Drought In The San Joaquin Valley

Floor Speech

Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise this evening to discuss what continues to be pernicious drought conditions that affect the people of the San Joaquin Valley, those in my district and my colleague's district.

I hope that most of the Members, if not all of you, recognize that we are now in three continuous dry year conditions in the San Joaquin Valley that is not only affecting the richest agricultural region in the United States, in California, but the entire State as well. A drought caused by Mother Nature, expanded and impacted by numerous judicial decisions and legislative changes, has very, very much devastated the economy of the valley I represent.

Water is the lifeblood of the agricultural communities in my district, supplying over a $20 billion industry in the San Joaquin Valley that provides half the Nation's fruits and vegetables, Number two in citrus production, Number one in production of wines, the list goes on and on, 300 commodities that are grown and produced; Number one dairy-producing State in the Nation.

Sadly, if this drought continues, we will find not only the San Joaquin Valley but the entire State of California, that is already economically depressed, further set back.

Today, unfortunately, the National Marine Fisheries Service finalized a biological opinion asking for modifications in the Central Valley Project and the State Water Projects that would divert even more water away from the agricultural communities and the San Joaquin Valley. This biological opinion, I think, on top of the additional reallocations of water, could relocate a very, very significant amount of water and make a very fragile system even more difficult to operate.

We have a sad situation where communities have 41 percent, 38 percent, 34 percent unemployment. While we have a deep recession facing all parts of our country, when you have those kinds of unemployment numbers, they are depression-like circumstances that we're facing.

We have food lines. I have been with my constituents in those food lines, some of the hardest working people you'll ever meet that, sadly, today, are asking for food. These people would normally be working if the water was there. If you had water, you'd have jobs, you'd have food. They would be working to put food on America's dinner table, but they're not today because of this man-made and Mother Nature-combined drought.

There are numerous factors that come together to issue this biological opinion, but I don't believe that the biological assessment supports the biological opinion because it only deals with one of the contributing factors that are cause for the decline in fisheries in the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta. What the biological opinion ignores is the presence of invasive species, striped bass that were actually planted there, non-native in the 1920s, tertiary treatment from sewage facilities in Sacramento and Stockton which caused ammonia to leak into the Sacramento San Joaquin River systems. It would cost $2 billion for Sacramento City to fix this ammonia problem, but they don't want to deal with that.

We have over 1,600 pumps in the delta that divert water that are unscreened. And we have non-point source pollution from the surrounding urban areas because they've quadrupled in population.

In sum, this administration must understand that, while we've lost over 30,000 jobs this year, if this drought, God forbid, extends a fourth or a fifth year, there will even be greater impact. Without water there is no work and there is no food, and that impacts not just California but the entire Nation.

We must work together to address the drought crisis in California in the short term and in the mid term. These fixes include factors that could lead to improving and moving water around, to get water supplies to those who need them, to deal with pump schedules and conflicts that arise, to increase the water bank, to ensure that in the next 6 months and the next year and beyond, that we do everything possible on the State, with the Federal Government's collaboration, to ensure that we deal with not just the fisheries of California, but people who have lost their jobs and whose lives have been impacted. That's what we need to do.

We have a water system in California that was designed for 20 million people. Today we have 38 million people. By the Year 2030 it's estimated that there may be 50 million people in California. It's now time to fix the problems in the delta in a comprehensive fashion, not simply by impacting those who grow the food in our Nation.

Mr. Speaker, I will submit the rest of the information for the Record.

I rise to discuss the drought that continues in our San Joaquin Valley.

As you all should know by now, we have faced three years of drought conditions in the San Joaquin Valley, further exacerbated by numerous judicial decisions and legislative changes to benefit fisheries and water quality in other areas of California.

Unfortunately, we are still a long ways from bringing solutions to our Valley.

While we have found some short-term fixes such as water transfers and temporary projects that will bring drought relief to our distressed communities, we must not forget the fact that this drought could continue for a fourth, fifth, or sixth year.

Water is the lifeblood of communities in my District, supplying a robust $20 billion industry in the Valley that provides over 50 percent of the nation's fresh fruits and vegetables.

If this drought continues into the years ahead, we must be prepared to ensure that those hard-working people in the San Joaquin Valley who work to put food on America's dinner table will not stand in food lines and go hungry.

This is unacceptable, and we cannot sit by and watch it happen.

Today, the National Marine Fisheries Service finalized a biological opinion asking for modifications to the Central Valley and State Water Projects that would divert even more water away from agricultural communities in the San Joaquin Valley to protect salmon, steelhead, and green sturgeon populations in the Delta.

Over the past several years, more than three million acre-feet of the Central Valley's federal water supply has been reallocated as a result of similar decisions.

All the while, fisheries such as the Delta smelt are still on the decline!

If this system were working, we would not see this happening.

Today's biological opinion adds yet another 330,000 acre-feet to that total.

This decision is unwise, and will have very serious implications for Valley farmers and communities.

Agricultural communities south of the Delta, especially in my District, will bear the entire brunt of today's biological opinion facing further reductions in water supply allocations when they already face Depression-level unemployment numbers and food insecurity.

People are standing in food lines and being turned away; unemployment has risen above 35 percent in many Valley towns.

There are numerous factors that can lead to the decline of fisheries in the Delta, but federal agencies continue to only focus on the state and federal pumps that supply agricultural communities in the Valley.

Federal policy should take all factors into account, such as: the presence of invasive species such as striped bass. tertiary treatment from sewage facilities in the Sacramento and Stockton area which cause ammonia to drain into the Delta, over 1,600 private pumps in the Delta diverting water without screens, and non-point source pollution from the surrounding urban areas, among other factors.

In sum, the administration must understand that over 30,000 farm-workers have lost their jobs due to limited water supply allocations.

How much more can we stand?

Without water, there is no work; there is no food on the table. There is no San Joaquin Valley.

We must work together not only to address the drought crisis in the short-term, but also to find long-term solutions to California's water supply needs.

In the short-term, the Administration must get more creative in finding ways to fix the Delta.

This includes looking at all factors that could lead to the decline of fisheries, not just federal and state pumps.

It also includes expediting transfer activities that will get water supplies to those who need them.

Resolving pumping schedules and conflicts before they arise.

And identifying any present or near future yields for south of the Delta water users.

Beyond this, we have a system that was designed for 20 million people, and we have 38 million now. We might have 50 million by 2030.

We must work to address California's long-range infrastructure needs.

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