After several years of waiting, we finally got the
area know as “The Access” back. For those of you that aren’t familiar, this is
the large area just outside the County Park. It was one of our finest sites,
with several stairways and half a dozen sandbagged launches. It was taken from
us by the Army Corps of Engineers for a levee test section after a time
consuming fight to keep it. The Department of Water Resources has agreed to
lease it to us again on a trial basis.
The effort to get it back was also time consuming. We
wrote many letters, made calls, and sent emails. We attended several meeting at
various places in the dead of winter.
Many other projects that seem to “just appear” in The Delta
are also the products of many hours of behind the scenes work.
The County Park saw huge improvements due to many meetings
in Sacramento gathering support and funding for the kiteboarder's and windsurfer's needs. The
design and placement of the permanent toilets, increased launch areas, and
additional parking were all a direct result of these meetings. The funding came
primarily from the Department of Boating - after long discussions explaining
why improvements made in areas used by windsurfers (who pay no boating fees)
would actually benefit the boaters. Somehow it worked.
Windy Cove was a huge political victory. The basic plan
had been drawn up for years, but no funding was available. In addition, there
were endangered plants, and other environmental concerns. Over the course of a
couple of years, RVWA gathered support in Sacramento to allow us to build the
park with resources donated by RVWA members and volunteer labor. The park was
an immediate success. After a couple of years of successful operations, the
State Parks further improved Windy Cove with paved parking and permanent
toilets.
And The Sign parking area was leased to us after many
meetings and clearing user permit hurdles with the Department of Water
Resources. We will have continued use of this property and it will be combined
with the lease for The Access.
We have been able to make all of this happen using of the
combined power of the RVWA members. Your membership is important – not only for
the funds necessary to maintain these sites, but for your collective political
voice.
Even if you kite or sail at one of the sites (such as the parks) not
currently maintained by RVWA, you now know that it is there because of the RVWA
membership. All of the sailing in The Delta is launched from private lands or
the parks. If RVWA were to disappear most of the Delta sailing sites would
disappear with it and the few remaining sites would become dangerously
overcrowded.
