HomeMy WebLinkAbout69-198
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
COUNTI' OF BUTTE, .STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Resolufion No. 69-198
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE RECLAMATION BOARD OF THE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND OPPOSING ANY PROPOSAL TO
TRANSFER ITS STAFF ANB FUNCTIONS TO THE DEPARTMENT
OF WATER RESOURCES __
WHEREAS, Item 276.5 of Chapter 355, Statutes of 1969,
appropriated funds for the Central Valley Flood Control Program
to the Secretary of the Resources Agency and directed him to
allocate the funds appropriated by this item to the Reclamation
Board and the Department of Water Resources to achieve as nearly
as is legally possible an integrated, statewide flood control
program administered and executed by the Department of Water
Resources; and
WHEREAS, on October 22, 1969, the Secretary of the Resources
Agency issued a directive effective October 31, 1969, which trans-
ferred all work and personnel of the Reclamation Board, with some
exceptions, to the Department of Water Resources and which also
allocated the funds remaining on October 31, 1969, in Item 276.5
of Chapter 355 of the Statutes of 1969 to the Department of Water
Resources; and
WHEREAS, the State Legislature has not changed or diminished
the statutory powers and responsibilities of the Reclamation Board;
and
WHEREAS, the Reclamation Board cannot effectively and
expeditiously carry out the powers and responsibilities conferred
on it by the Legislature while practically all of its staff and
funds have been transferred to the Department of Resources; and
WHEREAS, since its creation in 1911, the Reclamation Board
has efficiently fulfilled a continuing need in developing, supporting,
coordinating, and administering a complex and very effective flood
control program in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley basin; and
WHEREAS, flood control on the Sacramento and San Joaquin
Rivers and their tributaries should not be subordinated to the
development of water supply projects which are the prime concern of
the Department of Water Resources. The present and growing demands
of the State for water supplies and the projects built and being
planned to meet these demands can be adverse to valley-wide flood
control unless a State Board concerned with flood control is continued;
and
WHEREAS, the weakening or abolition of the Reclamation. Board
and the transfer of its functions and responsibilities to the Depart-
ment of Water Resources would result in the further centralization of
government too far removed from the people who are to be served; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Butte County Board of
'Supervisors is opposed to any attempt to eliminate the State Reclam-
ation Board and the transfer of any portion of the functions of the
Reclamation Board to the State Department of Water Resources, or
any other action which will reduce the Board's effectiveness in
furthering the flood control needs of the Sacramento and San Joaquin
Valleys; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Reclamation Board of the
State of California should be continued in existence and should be
reconstructed to have all its previous powers, duties, purposes, and
jurisdiction and that it be given adequate funds and personnel under
its direct control to carry out its powers, duties, and jurisdiction;
and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be
transmitted to the Governor of the State of California; the Lieutenant-
Governor of the State of California; the Director of the Department of
Water Resources; the Reclamation Board of the State of California;
the Members of the California Legislature; the California Central
Valley Floods Control Association; the County Supervisors Association
of California; the Irrigation Districts Association of California;
the California Water Resources Association; the Boards of Super-
visors of the counties of California; the California State Chamber
of Commerce, and the California Farm Bureau Federation.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Boyd of Supervisors of the
County of Butte, State of California, this 23rd day of December,
1969, by the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Dunaway, Howsden, T~axon, Reynolds, CL~airman McKillop
NOES : None
ABSENT: None
~~ ~
' KnMeKILLOP, hairman of the
tte County Board of Supervisors
ATTEST:
CLARK A. NELSON, County Clerk
and ex-officio Clerk of the
Board of Supervisors