For Immediate Use Contact: Garrison Frost, (510) 601-1866, Ext. 225
September 8, 2009

Emeryville, Calif. – Given the importance of Bay-Delta birds to California’s natural identity as well as the state’s substantial investments in bird habitat areas, any overhaul of the Bay-Delta water system should adhere to a no net loss of migratory bird habitat, said representatives of Audubon California today.

“No one disputes the idea that the Bay-Delta system is broken and needs to be fixed,” said Graham Chisholm, executive director of Audubon California. “We need to make sure that migratory birds are included in Bay-Delta planning – not just because these birds are an important part of our legacy as Californians, but also to protect the substantial investments taxpayers have already made in this area.”

Nearly everyone now agrees that the Bay-Delta system is in trouble. Tremendous demand for water – as well as drought – is causing shortages and environmental damage. Lawmakers are considering massive changes to the system to improve water supply and improve conditions for imperiled wildlife.

Today, less than 10% of the Bay-Delta’s original wetland and cottonwood willow habitats remain, and the concern is that fixing the Bay-Delta could risk further imperiling the at least 22 bird species from the Bay-Delta listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern – along with many others whose populations are dramatically reduced. A few of these are the American White Pelican, Western Snowy Plover, Tule White-fronted Goose, Northern Harrier, Western Burrowing Owl, California Black Rail, Greater Sandhill Crane, and the Tricolored Blackbird.

Nevertheless, the Bay-Delta remains critically important for migratory birds, supporting more than 200 different species. The San Francisco Bay Estuary, including the Delta, is the only site along the Pacific Flyway where close to a million shorebirds have been counted in a single day. Up to 50% of the Pacific Flyway’s migrating or wintering waterfowl (as much as 20% of the North American population) depend on habitats in the Bay-Delta. It is the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas.

Audubon California has identified 18 Important Bird Areas in the Bay-Delta region. These places provide essential habitat for breeding, wintering, and migrating birds.
The increasing demand for water from the Bay-Delta system has the potential of seriously harming these critical bird habitat areas.

“We need to ensure that we emerge from this overhaul process with as much migratory bird habitat that we had when we began,” said Chisholm. “Understandably, improvements to the Bay-Delta will impact bird habitat. But when habitat is lost, we must ensure that it is created elsewhere in the region.”

Audubon California is currently working to ensuring that migratory birds are incorporated into the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process, which is the latest effort to build consensus around what needs to be done in the Bay-Delta.

About Audubon California 
Audubon California is building a better future for California by bringing people together to appreciate, enjoy and protect our spectacular outdoor treasures. With more than 50,000 members in California and an affiliated 48 local Audubon chapters, Audubon California is a field program of the National Audubon Society.