Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017

Floor Speech

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Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I offer amendment Nos. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40.

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Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I am submitting an amendment to strike provisions from Mr. Valadao's bill, H.R. 2898, that were included as riders in this year's Interior and EPA appropriations bill.

I am disappointed that my Republican colleagues continue to attach bad policy on important appropriations bills. In this case, they have attached the same damaging riders to the Interior appropriations bill that would drain the California delta with over pumping. These provisions would ravage the ecology of the delta, destroy the local fish and wildlife, and harm communities we serve.

They would undermine 40 years of progress in protecting our land and resources. They override environmental protection for California rivers, fisheries, threatening thousands of fishing jobs, and weaken the Endangered Species Act. Fish will go extinct. But my Republican colleagues claim that this bill will not harm fish.

These sections violate existing biological opinions protecting salmon and other endangered fish, which would impact the salmon industry across the entire Pacific Coast.

These riders do nothing to prepare our communities for droughts in the future. These are droughts we know are coming. They misstate California water law and encourage further regional divides in the West when we need to work together to bridge those differences.

H.R. 2898 has been opposed by the State and key stakeholders, including commercial and sport fishermen, Native American tribes, environmental groups, and recreational employers. And the Obama administration has already threatened to veto it, but my Republican colleagues keep claiming that water is being wasted.

Hydrological conditions have played a primary role in water deliveries since the start of California's drought. The 2014 water year was the third driest in California's recorded history, and some experts conclude that the current drought may be the State's most severe in 1,200 years.

Currently, 100 percent of the State is experiencing some level of drought, and more than 40 percent is experiencing ``exceptional drought,'' the most severe drought classification according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The Department of the Interior estimates that the Endangered Species Act accounted for a mere 2 percent of the water supply reduction in the Central Valley Project water deliveries in 2014, and current estimates suggest a similarly small impact in 2014. California's State Water Resources Control Board estimated that in 2015, only 2 percent of this water flowed out to the ocean solely for environmental protection.

The water that Donald Trump said was being shoved out to sea was actually used to prevent saltwater intrusion that would permanently damage some of the most valuable farmland in the world. Water being released for salinity control protects Central Valley farms from being contaminated.

California and Federal officials have been able to increase exports from the California delta using existing authority. This action has helped maximize the use of what little water exists in the State. A lack of water is our biggest threat, not operational flexibility. And my colleagues still wonder where some of that water went.

Well, according to the Bay Institute, earlier this year, approximately two-thirds of storm runoff was captured or diverted, with only one-third of the runoff making it through the delta estuary. And for the period of October 1 of last year to January 31, 60 percent of storm water was diverted or stored.

Water scarcity in California is caused by longstanding and severe drought and the slow pace of investments in efficiency, water recycling, and other supplies. Many senior water right holders have received 100 percent of their allocation this year. According to State law, they are supposed to get that amount. The other junior right holders got much less, but that is what it means to be a junior water right holder--you don't get as much water in a drought.

California has the right to stop seawater intrusion, protect water quality for our communities and farms, and distribute allocations according to their water right system. Even the junior water right holders have proven their resiliency. In fact, the National Agriculture Statistics Service projects a record almond crop in California this year. The orchards will yield an estimated 2.05 billion pounds, up from an even 2 billion the year before. It would eclipse the record.

I am deeply disappointed this bill has been included in this year's Interior appropriations bill, and I hope my amendment passes to strike out these harmful provisions.

Mr. Chairman, I yield back the balance of my time.

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Mr. McNERNEY. Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote.

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