From The Capital Report;

District 30, the perennial battleground that Republicans have their sights on this year as Democratic Assemblywoman Nicole Parra completes her last term, also shows recent gains for Democrats. Since the February election cutoff, Democratic registration has jumped .6 percent while GOP registration has declined .5 percent. Democrat Fran Florez faces Republican Danny Gilmore, who lost a race in the district in 2006.

If we want more delta smelt, a finger-length minnow at the center of Californiaís latest water crisis, why donít we just grow more, asked State Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter.

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He plans to introduce a bill to that effect on Monday.

His bill, SB 994, would establish a fish hatchery in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta to grow smelt on a scale that would increase the population enough to take them out of the ìthreatenedî category under Endangered Species laws.

He said he came up with the idea when he and a couple of farmers were sitting around talking about the water crisis.

ìItís just a common sense deal,î Florez said.

Brent Walthall, assistant general manager of the Kern County Water Agency, called the bill a ìvery good first step.î
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