The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a)
California’s rivers, wetlands, and waterways, and the fisheries and wildlife habitat they provide, are valuable and finite resources that benefit the people of the state and are threatened with deterioration or degeneration that may endanger the natural beauty and productivity of these valuable resources.
(b)
The public interest requires the coordinated protection of rivers and riparian resources in order to maintain an equilibrium between the natural endowment of, and manmade alterations to, California’s river environment, and in order to preserve the scenic beauty of these natural resources and the recreational and economic benefits they provide.
(c)
By virtue of the special conditions and circumstances of the natural ecology, the increasing human populations and needs in the state, and the numerous governmental agencies with an interest in coordinating activities which affect rivers and riparian habitat resources, there is a need for a coordinated state rivers and riparian habitat protection program.