House passes water bill, status quo defenders dismayed

 

 

Today the House of Representatives passed a comprehensive water bill – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act (H.R. 3964) – to alleviate the water crisis in California.

Our bill – which eases regulations artificially restricting our water supply, reduces the amount of useable water flushed into the ocean, and allows us to store water in wet years for use in dry ones – was denounced by Governor Brown as an “unwelcome and divisive” proposal that would undermine “years of progress” toward solving the water problem. Where has this wonderful “progress” gotten us? In the midst of a major water crisis, we have no stored water to draw from and we continue flushing critical water supplies into the ocean. Governor Brown’s position is nothing more than a defense of the failed status quo.       

Similarly, Senator Diane Feinstein blasted our bill as “disingenuous,” “irresponsible,” and even “dangerous” – and it may really be all those things, if you are so resistant to change that your proposed solution to the crisis is the meaningless appointment of a “federal drought task force” and a “federal drought coordinator.”  

The water emergency is not the result of global warming or lack of rain, as our bill’s opponents claim. Our ancestors in California built an amazing irrigation system that can deliver a reliable water supply even during severe droughts. It is our inability to use this system as it was intended – due to preposterous regulations that put fish before families – that has created today’s water calamity. 

  

If you believe that changing our regulations would be too divisive, then you probably don’t want to support our bill. But if you think the time for talk is over, that the status quo is unacceptable, that Californians should not lose any more jobs due to a preventable crisis, and that Congress should take immediate action to bring water to drought-stricken communities, then please visit this page on my website to learn more about our efforts.

House acts fast on California water bill

In light of the drought emergency in California, the House leadership has scheduled a vote for next week on H.R. 3964, the comprehensive water fix introduced in the House by the entire California GOP delegation. The bill has already provoked opposition from Governor Brown's administration and from the usual suspects who have resisted every significant effort to bring relief to drought-stricken Californians. Nevertheless, Speaker of the House John Boehner understands the situation's urgency and is determined to quickly submit this bill for a vote.

A chance for more water fast

Responding to a request from Speaker of the House John Boehner, Rep. Valadao, Rep. McCarthy, and myself, Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas has presented a legislative fix for the water crisis to the Conference Committee on the Farm Bill. The bill could pass this week, bringing fast relief to South Valley farmers and communities. We sincerely hope California’s senators will cooperate with the House and support this proposal to alleviate the dire conditions facing many of our constituents.  

For further information, please see:

 

·         Our press release here.

·         The Fresno Bee op-ed here.

·         The Wall Street Journal articles here and here.

New skirmish in the water wars

I joined Reps. McCarthy, Valadao, and Costa on a statement today urging the Bureau of Reclamation not to suspend delivery of rescheduled water to Central Valley farmers. You can read our statement here.

Water crisis update

 
 

This week Speaker of the House John Boehner joined Rep. McCarthy, Rep. Valadao, and myself at the Starrh farm in Bakersfield to plead our case for more water for Central Valley farmers and communities. We announced that we’ll be submitting legislation in Congress to take three actions to resolve the water crisis: 

·         Turn on the Delta pumps this year and next year to capture future rain events.

·         End restoration flows in the San Joaquin River for this year and next year in order to stop wasting water.

·         Establish a bipartisan, emergency joint committee from the House and Senate to devise a long-term legislative solution.

I’m confident most people would view this as a common-sense plan that will bring immediate relief to water-starved Californians and help find a permanent fix to the problem. Then again, you can always count on the extremists to denounce any constructive proposal even before it’s published. 

Separately, the Nunes Digest has been updated here for your weekend reading.

 

Drought is declared: Governor states the obvious while politicians run victory laps

Governor Jerry Brown today declared a drought emergency in California. Notably, in their statements about the declaration, neither the governor nor Senator Dianne Feinstein mentioned any of our attempts in the House of Representatives over the past several years to pass legislation that would permanently end the state’s water crisis. The Senate has rejected all our efforts, including the comprehensive fix contained in H.R. 1837, which passed the House in 2012 but was not acted upon in the Senate. This week, senators declined another water fix that was proposed in connection with the omnibus spending bill.

The governor’s emergency declaration has sparked victory laps by politicians, plenty of slaps on the back, calls for water bonds, demands to appoint a “federal drought coordinator,” and cries of joy from water districts that refuse to tell farmers and farmworkers what it will really take to end the water crisis. The bottom line is this: the declaration of a drought emergency will accomplish next to nothing. Outside of flood-level rainfall, there are only two ways to get more water this year: get the pumps turned back on, and get more water from the San Joaquin River that will otherwise be flushed into the ocean for the sake of phantom salmon. It will take federal laws, like those passed in the House and rejected in the Senate, to accomplish those actions. Anything else is just noise.

Perplexed by Senator Feinstein’s refusal to cooperate on water legislation, I joined my colleagues Reps. McCarthy and Valadao in writing a letter today inviting the senator to meet with us and explain any legislative proposals she may have to resolve the drought. You can read the letter here.