Bill Text: CA SCR90 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

---

Bill Title: Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2014-07-03 - Chaptered by Secretary of State. Res. Chapter 80, Statutes of 2014. [SCR90 Detail]

Download: California-2013-SCR90-Introduced.html

---

BILL NUMBER: SCR 90	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Hueso

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   Relative to the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 90, as introduced, Hueso. Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team.
   This measure would declare the Legislature's intent to work with
the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team to take various actions to
protect and preserve the Tijuana River Valley, to encourage
collaboration with the team to protect and enhance our natural
resources through improved management of sediment and trash, flood
control, ecosystem management, and recreation and education, and to
promote bilateral ties with Mexico that will be beneficial to the
enhancement of one of California's most resilient ecosystems.
   Fiscal committee: no.



   WHEREAS, Originating in Mexico, the Tijuana River crosses the
international boundary into the United States near San Ysidro,
California, then flows westerly to discharge into the Pacific Ocean
at about 1.5 miles north of the Mexican border where it forms the
Tijuana River Estuary, partly located in the State of California and
partly in Mexico; and
   WHEREAS, Parts of the Tijuana River Estuary are protected by the
Department of Parks and Recreation as the Border Field State Park;
and
   WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Estuary is also protected by the United
States Fish and Wildlife Service, and is designated as a "Wetland of
International Importance" through the United Nations Ramsar
Convention Wetlands; and
   WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Estuary is one of only two coastal
estuaries in southern California large enough, and unimpeded by
development, to be resilient to climate change. It is also the only
coastal lagoon in southern California that is primarily under public
ownership and not bisected by roads and railroads, contributing to
its economic resiliency and value; and
   WHEREAS, The City of San Diego declared the existence of a state
of emergency related to the potential for severe flooding in the
Tijuana River Valley, posing a possibility of peril to persons or
property; and
   WHEREAS, Decades of scientific research prove that sediment,
trash, and high concentrations of other urban, agricultural, and
industrial pollutants carried in stormwater runoff flowing into
California from Mexico currently threaten the Tijuana River Valley's
environmental health and viability; and
   WHEREAS, In addition to the environmental impact caused by the
transport and deposition of trash and sediment, the watershed is in
danger of losing valuable ecological, recreational, and economic
resources; and
   WHEREAS, The only way to effectively restore and protect
environmental and human health issues in the Tijuana River Valley is
to address transboundary flows of trash and sediment at the source,
requiring binational cooperation; and
   WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team is a collaboration
of more than 30 federal, state, and local agencies and other
interested parties from both sides of the border focused on
addressing sediment, trash, and associated environmental issues
through the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Strategy; and
   WHEREAS, The Tijuana River Valley Recovery Strategy emphasizes
binational collaboration on wastewater improvements, trash control,
sediment and flood control, and ecosystem restoration; now,
therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature on behalf of the people of
the State of California, declare their commitment to work with the
Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team to protect the valley's diverse
and unique ecological, recreational, cultural, and educational
opportunities and preserve this natural jewel located within a
binational metropolitan area; and be it further
   Resolved, That it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
collaboration with the Tijuana River Valley Recovery Team to do both
of the following:
   (a) To protect and enhance our natural resources through improved
management of sediment and trash, flood control, ecosystem
management, and recreation and education.
   (b) To promote bilateral ties that will be beneficial to the
enhancement of one of California's most resilient ecosystems; and be
it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the Secretary for Environmental Protection and to the
author for appropriate distribution.