RBOC: Delta Boat Locks Press Release

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"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Jerry Desmond, Jr.
916.441.4166

RBOC Lobbying for Delta Boat Locks Instead of Barriers

Following passage of Assembly Joint Resolution 38 through the State Legislature, Recreational Boaters of California [RBOC] will continue to pursue the installation, maintenance and operation of boat locks without cost or expense to recreational boaters, at both locations of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Program in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Stated RBOC President Anne Sacks: “RBOC is continuing to lobby the federal and state governments, and state legislators, in an effort to prevent the tremendous impact that the Two-Gates Project would have on the current, unrestricted access by recreational boaters navigating these popular Delta waterways."

Approval of AJR 38 initiates a request by the Legislature that the United States Department of the Interior complete, as soon as possible, its study of the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

As currently proposed, the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Program would negatively impact recreational boating through the installation and operation of two experimental barriers on Old River and Connection Slough in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These gates would jeopardize boating safety, infringe on the long-established right of unimpeded vessel passage, restrict boat passage for significant periods of time, and diminish property values in nearby communities.

RBOC and others have been communicating these concerns and the request for boat locks to the United States Department of the Interior, the United States Bureau of Reclamation, the California Department of Water Resources, as well as individual members of the California State Legislature.

RBOC is the nonprofit governmental advocacy organization that works to protect and enhance the interests of the state's recreational boaters before the legislative and executive branches of state and local government. RBOC is in its 42nd year as a statewide organization, and since 1968 it has continued its commitment to promoting the enjoyment, protection, and responsible use of our waterways. "

www.rboc.org
 
For those not familiar with these barriers, the true purpose is to prevent salinity increases in the water being pumped into the San Luis Reservoir and environs south. This is in anticipation of increased water being diverted from the Delta, therefore allowing further intrusion of salt water from the SF Bay into the Delta.

To get a historical perspective, the Mothball Fleet of ships anchored in Suisun Bay used to be in fresh water. After they started diverting Delta water, salt intrusion has crept up to the point that Sherman Island can no longer grow crops except in very wet years due to salinity levels in the water.
 
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