The San Francisco Bay and other waterways key to summer fun

Media Releases

Environment California

Oakland-This year, 17.7 million people visited California National Parks that include waterways like the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento River, according to Environment California’s new Summer Fun Index. The new fact sheet comes as summer draws to close, and as officials consider a new rule to restore protections for more than 140,000 miles of the state’s rivers and streams.

“We all know clean water means summer fun. There’s nothing quite like sailing on the San Francisco Bay or fishing in the Sacramento River,” said Nathan Weaver, organizer with Environment California. “Our Summer Fun Index shows how important it is to protect our waters.”

According to the index, Fishing and boating are popular activities for visitors to California waterways, with over 800,000 registered boats in California and 2.6 million fishing licenses, tags, and permits issued.

Despite their popularity, tens of thousands of miles of California’s rivers and streams are not guaranteed protection under the nation’s Clean Water Act, thanks to a loophole in the law secured by developers and other polluters nearly a decade ago.

In March, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule to restore protections for the headwaters, streams, and wetlands left in limbo by the loophole. But agribusinesses, oil companies, and their champions in Congress are campaigning heavily against it. Next week the U.S. House of Representatives plans to vote on a bill, HR 5078, to block the rule.

EPA is taking public comments on the measure through the fall. Environment California pointed to the stats on how much people use and enjoy California’s waterways as further support for EPA’s proposed rule.

“Whether we enjoy them for fishing, boating, or swimming, we all have a stake in the health of the San Francisco Bay and the rest of our waterways,” said Weaver. “We should be doing everything we can to protect all of our rivers, lakes and streams.”