The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources advanced legislation providing additional funding for restoring salmon in the San Joaquin River, clearing the bill for a vote from the full Senate.
If passed into law, the bill would triple the cap on funding available under the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act from USD 250 million (EUR 219 million) to USD 750 million (EUR 656 million). The original legislation was passed in 2009 as part of a settlement ending an 18-year-long lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which blamed government policy and dam operators for causing local extinction of spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River.
According to U.S. Representative Alex Padilla (D-California), the costs for implementing that restoration have risen significantly over the last 15 years, and the program needs more funding in order to establish a self-sustaining population of Chinook. In April, he introduced a bill to increase funding for the program.
“As droughts, floods, rising project costs, and funding delays continue to threaten watersheds across our state, Congress has a responsibility to restore salmon and improve recreational access to free-flowing rivers in areas like the San Joaquin Valley,” Padilla said in a release. “I am proud to see my bill to authorize additional funding to support ecological restoration of the San Joaquin River advance. My bill also mitigates water supply losses for Friant Division farmers, and I will continue to advocate for bolstering drought resiliency and water supply across California.”
On 16 July, the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources reported the bill favorably. It must now be passed by both the Senate and House before being sent to the president to be signed into law.
