Ducks Unlimited recently sent a public letter to the California Water Commission in support of funding for two large water supply projects in California: the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion and the Sites Reservoir.

"Ducks Unlimited is supportive of investing in water for wetlands and wildlife, including efforts to expand Los Vaqueros Reservoir and establish Sites Reservoir, said Gary Link, Ducks Unlimiteds director of policy for the Western Region. DU looks forward to the wildlife benefits these two projects will bring to waterfowl and the threatened and endangered species that thrive in Californias wetlands.

Los Vaqueros is an off-stream reservoir in Brentwood, owned and operated by Contra Costa Water District, that can be expanded to provide ecosystem benefits that qualify for Californias Proposition 1 funding. The primary ecosystem benefit proposed for the Los Vaqueros Reservoir Expansion Project is an increased supply of water to wildlife refuges south of the Delta.

Sites is a planned off-stream reservoir near Maxwell that will divert water from the Sacramento River and its tributaries and will have multiple beneficial effects on wildlife by providing water for wildlife north and south of the Delta.

Only 5 percent of the historical acreage of Californias Central Valleys wetlands remain, largely as publicly and privately managed wetlands. These wetlands serve as critical habitat to hundreds of winged and terrestrial species and would benefit greatly from the completion of Sites and the expansion of Los Vaqueros.