rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/letter/petition-letter-to-assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-kalra?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-letter-area-petition-letter-to-assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-kalra' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Christopher Quock https://actionnetwork.org/users/save-del-puerto-canyon-wwwsavedelpuertocanyonorg/profile https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/letters/photos/000/432/063/normal/SDPC-montage.jpg We need your help to Save Del Puerto Canyon! Fill in the info under "take action" to create a letter that you can send to your state assembly representative. Either use the text provided or can edit it. Help amplify calls for legislative help to protect several miles of Del Puerto Canyon from being flooded by a proposed, non-potable agribusiness reservoir and to prevent the tactics used by the project backers from being repeated by others against environmentalists, outdoor educators, and historically underrepresented community members elsewhere in CA. Given all the obstacles we’re fighting against, we need your help to ask your state representative(s) for legislative solutions, including some of these possible areas: Emergency legislation or other legal actions to protect both Allan Bennison’s dinosaur discovery site and those Native American artifacts Del Puerto Water District identified as possibly meeting the criteria for state historic preservation from being destroyed. Either repeal the parts of CA Gov’t. Code Section 53091 (ref: https://codes.findlaw.com/ca/government-code/gov-sect-53091/) which currently gives sponsors of large-scale water projects the ability to ignore the building and zoning ordinances of cities and counties, or add an amendment barring projects that are not designed to directly improve potable water supplies from taking advantage of such exemptions to neighboring community oversight. Require those water districts who restrict their voting eligibility and board membership by landowner title and who plan to move existing public infrastructure paid for by taxes from the wider public, like county-owned roadways, to seek permission from the wider public through an open ballot initiative process. Increased attention, through a state resolution, commission, or other investigative body, towards examining the degree to which governance structures like special districts may be contributing to patterns of racial or class-based disparities in land access, deficits in community park spaces, and other community planning decisions in some unincorporated parts of the state. Stricter conflict-of-interest laws to bar water district managers and board members from spearheading projects using public funds or publicly-sourced water that could potentially benefit their personal businesses, business partners, or family members. Clearer language reinforcing the right of the general public to be present along roadside right-of-ways and associated open areas, with specific allowances for groups engaged in “citizen science.” Current state rules limiting the use of trespass claims within public right-of-ways and in certain types of publicly-accessible, open land are ambiguously worded. This makes them vulnerable to being intentionally overlooked by those who want to prevent the general public from potentially finding natural, historical, or cultural resources of value near areas they want to develop. Language specifying that conserved Diablo Range lands also include some areas that are managed as Bureau of Land Management properties or National Forest land analogs for activities those agencies have traditionally deemed to be “lower impact.” This includes activities that both engage and familiarize prospective entomologists, botanists, and geologists with field techniques and conditions mirroring what they may encounter in professional working environments, along with some traditional rural outdoor pastimes that many non-landowners lack outlets for. Setting aside lands to accommodate these more diverse uses will be crucial to promoting community buy-in for conservation, reducing tensions between different recreational groups, and lessening intrusions into other lands where public access may need to be more regulated to protect specific natural or archaeological resources. Background: According to Save Mt. Diablo, Del Puerto Canyon is one of the top five most biodiverse areas within the Diablo Range. The existing 80' public right-of-way associated with Del Puerto Canyon Road and other adjacent open lands have allowed many individuals and groups to publicly access portions of the canyon for decades. Historically flexible land management practices in some areas of the canyon have also been useful for field techniques and data sampling training/practice activities that might otherwise be limited to Bureau of Land Management properties, National Forest lands, and university-owned reserves that are too far away for some classes and naturalist groups to access. The rich assemblage of bedrock mortars and other Yokuts artifacts in the canyon have been valuable links to the past for descendants of current and former tribes and members of Indigenous advocacy groups. However, representatives of Del Puerto Water District and San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority have proposed a reservoir to store water for non-potable uses that would inundate 4-5 miles of Del Puerto Canyon. The construction of Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir would allow them to both block pre-existing plans for a public park in the canyon by the neighboring city of Patterson and reroute several miles of county-owned Del Puerto Canyon Road. Astonishingly, CA law allows water districts to make such eminent domain-like decisions that can interfere with the plans of neighboring municipalities. On the ground, some project supporters have expressed their desire to use the potential reservoir and road reroute as a way to make it harder for underrepresented Hispanic residents from Patterson and visitors from the Bay Area to access rural open space areas west of I-5. Some project supporters have also put out messages implying that the general practice of stopping along open roadsides is illegal and downplaying the potential inundation of known Native American archaeological sites. This includes at least one location the district admits in their own Environmental Impact Report as being potentially “unique” and eligible for state historical protections if it weren’t in the way of their proposed reservoir. District officials also used this EIR to cast doubt about the location and historical value of the area where a teenager discovered the first dinosaur fossils identified from California in 1936. Nearby roadside pullouts are still used by geology classes and clubs to view the site, but this area would be mostly inundated by the reservoir. There have been anecdotal accounts of individuals stopped along public roadsides being harassed by those attempting to support the water district’s efforts to curb public activities within the proposed project zone. Project backers have also continued to downplay concerns stemming from the proposed main dam and saddle dams’ proximity to the San Joaquin Fault. Despite several earthquakes occurring near the project area after the publication of the initial EIR, its authors have failed to include this earthquake activity in their revised EIR. Water district managers have used the initial 2022 court ruling and later appellate court decision that found parts of their EIR legally viable to restrict further public comments on many of these environmental and safety concerns. Some members of the water district's leadership promoting the reservoir, which is designed to store publicly-sourced water from the Delta Mendota Canal, have also been open about their close personal connections to commercial growers and business associations who might benefit from it. Many public officials representing Stanislaus County and the 13th Congressional District have been openly supporting Del Puerto Water District’s efforts. Some members of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors publicly expressed a desire to see Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir used as a model for damming other parts of the canyon and the Diablo Range on behalf of big ag during a February 2025 meeting. Coinciding with their communications with the water district, which included a personal tour of the project site by its general manager, Central Valley officials drafted the "Valley Water Protection Act." This legislation would create a pathway for agribusinesses and water storage projects to apply for exemptions from “national security threats” or “economic harm” from Endangered Species Act regulations. Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir’s support and lobbying network could produce further negative effects for environmental initiatives in other areas of the state. Your help is crucial to our efforts to stop this project in Del Puerto Canyon and to make sure the tactics some of its proponents have used here don't get repeated elsewhere. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/petition-letter-to-assemblymembers-bauer-kahan-and-kalra