Willow Flycatcher by Kelly Colgan Azar

As the Nov. 4 election approaches, Audubon California has been listing the various benefits to California birds that will come about with the measure's passage. We've talked about the birds of the Central Valley, shorebirds and seabirds, the Klamath, and other areas. Now we just want to list all the benefits to birds as we see them in the text of the measure. Let us know that you're Voting for Birds this Election Day. Here's the big list:

Proposition 1 provides much-needed funds for the State to meet its legal obligations to provide water for wildlife and habitat.

Section 79736 of the proposed water bond provides for $475 million for state obligations, including those made to restore and provide habitat in the Salton Sea, the San Joaquin River, the Klamath Basin, and in 19 Central Valley Refuges.

For quite some time, Audubon California has been talking about the importance of California and the Federal Government meeting its obligations under the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act, which requires that 19 vital wildlife refuges in the Central Valley receive enough water to meet their conservation needs. Since the law has been passed, this obligation has been met only once (and even then it wasn’t completely satisfied because there wasn’t sufficient infrastructure to deliver water to certain refuges).

This section of the bond will enable California to meet its portion of the CVPA obligation. This will provide habitat to millions of birds over the life of the bond and prevent deaths of birds due to lack of food or because of disease outbreaks (like botulism and cholera) associated with drought conditions.  A broad range of migratory waterfowl (including ducks, geese and cranes) will directly benefit, as well as a host of shorebirds that also make use of Central Valley wetland habitat.

The funds can also be used to better use existing water. For example, projects at the Grasslands Ecological Complex—the largest wetland complex west of the Mississippi—would allow the same water to be recirculated through the system to provide more habitat to more birds over a broader area.

Section 79736(b) provides for funds for interstate compacts, including the Lake Tahoe compact. Work at Lake Tahoe will benefit Bald Eagles, Osprey, and migratory passerines and waterfowl.

Projects included in 79736(c) include the Salton Sea, a critical stopover for migratory birds, a globally significant Important Bird Area, and breeding grounds for many species of waterbirds. The Salton Sea is already dying and will see  a major reduction in water delivery to the starting in 2015. The drying of the Salton Sea will pose major human health risks, as the seabed is exposed and dusts and particulates pollute the air. It will also make the Salton Sea more and more saline, rendering it uninhabitable by fish, invertebrates, and birds, eventually killing or driving off most life that depends on the lake. This funding could result in planning and habitat restoration similar to what has already taken place at Owens Lake, which is successfully managing human health risks while providing vital shorebird and waterbird habitat.

Section 79736(d) provides funds for the San Joaquin River settlement agreement, which would restore 63 miles of the river, providing much-needed habitat for Yellow Warbler, Least Bell’s Vireo, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, while also providing benefits for salmon and protecting local farming and other economic activities.

Section 79736(e) would provide funds for the Klamath Basin for the transfer of water to the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, where thousands of birds are currently dying due to botulism and a lack of water.

Proposition 1 provides approximately $1.5 billion for watershed ecological restoration, improvements, and maintenance.

Section 29730 provides for $1.495 billion to competitive grants for projects that have multiple ecological benefits (e.g., not just for fish) in watershed and restoration projects throughout the state. That amount includes the $475 billion for state obligations and nearly one billion more for other much-needed projects.

Among these funds are $327 million to conservancies throughout the states. Conservancies work with local governments and nonprofits, like Audubon chapters, on multibenefit habitat improvements and restoration. Some specific allotments include:

• $10 million to the Baldwin Hills Conservancy, which manages 1,200 acres of the largest open space area remaining in the Los Angeles basin, which includes severely degraded riparian areas that could be greatly improved with bond funds, to support migratory species such as Yellow Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, and the climate-threatened Rufous Hummingbird. Projects could also help the Tricolored Blackbirds and the recently-extirpated California Thrasher and Cactus Wren.
• $15 million to the California-Tahoe Conservancy, whose projects have included a 600-acre marsh restoration on the Upper Truckee Marsh, which would provide direct benefits to migratory and resident birds, including Bald Eagle, Osprey, Yellow Warbler, and the endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher.
• $10 million to the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy, which could lead to habitat restoration and land-acquisition projects to benefit species such as Golden Eagle, Prairie Falcon, Cactus Wren, Western Bluebird, and many migratory species that depend on this habitat.
• $30 million to the Ocean Protection Council, which could benefit forage fishery protection, restoration and enhancement of eel grass beds, and protection for critical marine bird feeding areas. This would benefit a variety of marine species such as Brown Pelican, Black Oystercatcher, and Surf Scoter, which has seen precipitous declines in recent years.
• $17 million to the San Diego River Conservancy, which would greatly benefit efforts to create riparian habitat for Least Bell’s Vireo and Willow Flycatcher.
• $30 million to the San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles Rivers & Mountains Conservancy, which oversees habitat restoration of a broad swath of river habitat through one of the densest urban corridors in California. Its work supports a a broad array of shorebird species such as Black-necked Stilt, as well as migratory songbirds s, such as Yellow Warbler.
• $10 million to the San Joaquin River Conservancy, to benefit the San Joaquin River, one of our most altered rivers in California. Now the San Joaquin River is in the midst of a rebirth that incorporates habitat for fish and birds while also providing communities public access. Potential projects could include restoration of riparian habitat—which has been reduced by as much as 98% along the San Joaquin River—to provide nesting and foraging habitat to Neotropical migrants such as Yellow Warblers, Warbling Vireos, and Yellow-billed Cuckoos.
• $30,000 to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which protects and restores vital habitat for birds.
• $25 million to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, which could be put to projects to protect and restore vital mountain meadows, which are important migratory and breeding sites for species including the Yellow Warbler and the endangered Willow Flycatcher.
• $100.5 million to the State Coastal Conservancy, which would be put toward restoration and habitat protection programs to benefit millions of shorebirds and resident and migratory wetland-dependent species.

  • $50 million to the Sacramento‑San Joaquin Delta Conservancy. Shorebirds are among the many thousands of waterbirds that take advantage of some agricultural lands (for instance, rice and alfalfa) as surrogate habitat. This funding will go a long way toward supporting these kinds of partnerships that produce great benefits to migratory birds. In addition to agricultural enhancements that benefit birds, this funding will also go toward wetland restoration. It is important to note that the Delta is one of the largest estuaries on the West Coast and a major stopover point for migratory waterbirds.

Section 79710(b) provides that funding to the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta Conservancy (“Delta Conservancy”) must be spent on demonstrable habitat improvements for fish and other wildlife. It also emphasis cooperative programs with land owners, which is a major priority for Audubon. Specifically, it will result in restoration and crop management practices that benefit birds, such as Sandhill Cranes, that rely on the Delta in places like Staten Island, which hosts at least 15% of all Sandhill Crane that winter in the state.

Proposition 1 provides funding for clean water, wastewater treatment, and groundwater projects.

The bond will allocate $520 million for clean water, wastewater treatment and other projects that will benefit birds indirectly by reducing conflicts that take water away from the environment.

Section 79723 provides $260 million to address wastewater problems in disadvantaged communities. There will be benefits to birds and wildlife because less polluted water will flow to streams, wetlands, and the ocean.

Proposition 1 does not fund the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

Section 79710(a) states: "Funds provided  by this  division  shall not be expended to pay the costs of the design, construction, operation, mitigation, or maintenance of Delta conveyance facilities. Those costs shall be the responsibility of the water agencies that benefit from the design, construction,   operation mitigation, or maintenance of those facilities."

In other words, bond funds cannot be expended to design, construct, or mitigate for the Delta tunnels or other alternatives in the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan.

Proposition 1 does not allow dams on Wild & Scenic Rivers.

Section 79711(e) states: “funds authorizd pursuant to this division shall not be available for any project that could have an adverse effect on the values upon which a wild and scenic river or any other river is afforded protections pursuant to the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act or the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.”

This includes the major rivers in California, particularly the Sacramento, and would seem to be an obstacle to raising the Shasta Dam or constructing the Temperance Flat dam with bond funds. This could also impede a proposed raising of a dam on the Merced River that Audubon chapters have been working for years to prevent.