At their board meeting on Tuesday, September 9, 2014 the Board of Directors of The Sierra Fund voted unanimously to support the water bond that has been placed by the Legislature and the Governor onto the November 2014 ballot. This water bond, which has been assigned Proposition 1, replaces the bond originally passed in 2009.
“The Board took this position because we understand the urgent need for the State to invest in water quality and watershed restoration projects around the state. The water quality situation in some disadvantaged communities has reached a crisis and we must act,” noted Board Chair Tim Seward.
“In addition, we are proud to say that The Sierra Fund’s ongoing efforts to study and address the mercury released by legacy abandoned gold and mercury mines have brought to light the need for substantial new resources to remediate the mercury that is reaching the San Francisco Bay and Delta from these upstream legacy mines—and resulted in specific directives in the bond to address this problem.”
Elizabeth “Izzy” Martin commented, “We applaud Assemblymember Rendon (author of the bill) as well as the long standing efforts of Senators Wolk and Pavley, leadership on both sides of the aisle in both houses, the Governor, and Sierra legislators including Assemblymember Dahle, in their successful effort to pass this bi-partisan water bond onto the ballot for the voters of California to decide upon.”