Obama Administration Action Plan for Bay Delta Praised by EDF

For Immediate Release

(San Francisco, CA – December 22, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) welcomed a Federal Action Plan today that shows how the federal government will coordinate and prioritize the activities of six federal agencies to address the water crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. 

“The Federal Action Plan reinforces the Obama administration’s commitment to partner with California to solve the state’s water crisis,” said Ann Hayden, EDF Senior Water Resource Analyst and a member of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan steering committee. “We welcome the focus and partnership that this plan will bring to implement much-needed near term actions in the Bay Delta, one of the most important estuary ecosystems in the nation.”

EDF praised the plan for its focus on:

1. Enhanced water transfers to bring needed water to farmers;
2. Scientific evaluation of water quality and flows for recovery of endangered fish; and 
3. Efforts to increase agricultural water efficiency.

The Federal Action Plan was announced today following a September Memorandum of Understanding listing actions to be taken over the next two years by six federal agencies: the Department of the Interior, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Army, Environmental Protection Agency, and the Council on Environmental Quality.

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Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 700,000 supporters. Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. www.environmentaldefense.org blogs.edf.org/waterfront/