Take action to protect the Mojave Desert - Ways to support CA SB 307

Support California Senate Bill SB 307 to protect the Mojave Desert's groundwater.

California Senate Bill SB 307, legislation that will help protect the Mojave Desert from water mining projects that would permanently decimate wildlife, is moving into hearings. The bill is nearly identical to last year's SB 120, which had passed the Assembly, and was predicted to pass the Senate, prior to Senate President pro Tem, Toni Atkins, with help from Senator Anthony Portantino, preventing a vote on the legislation. Atkins has received campaign contributions from Cadiz Inc. and Cadiz CFO Tim Shaheen, according to the San Diego Reader.

Mojave Watch urges desert residents and all Californians (and others) who care about desert wildlife; our desert national parks, monuments, and preserves; our wilderness and other public lands; and water conservation and management, to take strong action in support of the passage of SB 307 into law. The bill prohibits water "transfers" from a desert aquifer within the region designated, unless the State Lands Commission, in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, finds the transfer will not "adversely affect the natural or cultural resources" of federal and state lands in the region.

Read SB 307

"USGS scientists have found this pumping would overdraft the aquifer up to 25 times over safe sustainable levels..."

Cadiz Inc. plans to pump 16 billion gallons of groundwater each year for 50 years from an aquifer that lies beneath the Mojave Trails National Monument, Mojave National Preserve, and Joshua Tree National Park. USGS scientists have found this pumping would overdraft the aquifer up to 25 times over safe sustainable levels, but the Trump administration has eliminated the required federal review and placed the project among its top "Emergency and National Security" projects list.

SB 307 has its Senate Natural Resources Committee hearing this next Tuesday, April 9, 2019. The hearing was delayed because Cadiz Inc. has proposed an amendment. Unless the amendment is adopted, it is unlikely it will be made public. We ask desert lovers to encourage the committee members to support this bill, to pass it out of committee and to build momentum so it will not suffer the fate of last year's SB 120, with Atkins refusing to allow it to come to the Senate floor for a vote.

How You Can Help

First, anyone with a Twitter account can help get the word out to committee members by tweeting these messages, or your own:

@HenrySternCA

@GeneralRoth

@SenHannahBeth

@CASenCaballero

@HertzieLA

@SenateHertzberg

@SenBenHueso

@BenAllenCA

@BillMonning

Recommended tweets (copy and paste to use):

@HenrySternCA Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.”

@GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

@SenHannahBeth Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.” @GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

@CASenCaballero Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.” @GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

@HertzieLA Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.” @GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

@SenBenHueso Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.” @GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

@BenAllenCA Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.” @GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

@BillMonning Counting on you to support #SB307! Ensure Calif’s Mojave desert ecosystem isn’t destroyed by project @LATimes calls “essentially useless & environmentally damaging.” @GeneralRoth has right approach backed by @SenFeinstein @MayorOfLA @CAController

Additional tweets (send to those senators listed above, or others who should support SB 307):

The Cadiz "Peer Review" report is PR reviewed, not peer reviewed. The USGS science found Cadiz would overdraft the aquifer up to 25 times a safe, sustainable level. #SB307

Don't gamble with the lives of Mojave Desert wildlife. Support SB307. The wildlife of the Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument, and Joshua Tree National Park are counting on you. #SB307

Cadiz is a bad move for desert tourism and its jobs. Protect the gateway communities for the Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument, and Joshua Tree National Park - support SB 307. The Mojave's wildlife - and humans - are counting on you! #SB307

Call the Senators

You may also call the offices of committee members to register your support:

Senator Stern (Chair/co-author SB 307): 916-651-4027

Senator Caballero: 916-651-4012

Senator Herzberg: 916-651-4018

Senator Hueso: 916-651-4040

Senator Jackson: 916-651-4019

Senator Monning: 916-651-4017

Call script: Hello. My name is _________. I am calling to ask Senator ________ to please support SB 307 to protect the fragile ecosystem and the wildlife of the Mojave Desert, including the Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument, and Joshua Tree National Park. (If you are a constituent of the senator you are calling, please note that as well.)

Comment on their Facebook pages

Senator Henry Stern: https://www.facebook.com/HenrySternCA/

Senator Anna Caballero: https://www.facebook.com/senatorcaballero/

Senator Bob Hertzberg: https://www.facebook.com/robert.hertzberg/

Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson: https://www.facebook.com/SenHannahBeth/

Senator Bill Monning: https://www.facebook.com/CA.bill.monning/

After April 9

After SB 307's Natural Resources Committee hearing, it moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee, where it must pass out of committee by May 15, 2019. Please use the following information to contact senators Atkins and Portantino, as well as your own senator, to encourage their support for SB 307.

Find your California State Representatives/Senators at http://findyourrep.legislature.ca.gov

Senator Atkins, Senate President Pro Tem: 916-651-4039 or @ToniAtkins

Senator Portantino, Chair of Appropriations: 916-651-4025 or @Portantino

Tweet your own messages with: Please pass #SB307. #StopCadiz

Call script: Hello. My name is __________________. I am calling to ask Senator ________ to please support SB 307 to protect the fragile ecosystem and the wildlife of the Mojave Desert, including the Mojave National Preserve, Mojave Trails National Monument, and Joshua Tree National Park. (If you are a constituent of the senator you are calling, please note that as well.)

We cannot thank you enough for your support and efforts in support of, SB 307. The wildlife of the Mojave Desert don't have paid lobbyists and can't make campaign contributions or hire former staffers as favors to senators. They rely on us. Access to water is a matter of life and death for desert wildlife. The desert is not a wasteland, and we do not want to see it become one, for the sake of Cadiz Inc. making billions of dollars. The science does not support Cadiz. It's time our politicians and our policies do not.