Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2013
Floor Speech
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Mr. THOMPSON of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding, and I rise for the purpose of entering into a colloquy.
I also want to thank the chairman and his staff, the ranking member and his staff for the help that they've provided on this very important issue.
Mr. Chairman, and Members, the Bureau of Reclamation manages Lake Berryessa in my district. They manage it for the purposes of recreational access, and they ensure that the facilities are safe and accessible to local residents and visitors. As part of this, they award concessions to third-party bidders for resort operations.
Since the Bureau of Reclamation began the most recent bidding process in 2007, their performance has been disappointing, at best. The concession contract was finally awarded in January 2010, and the third-party contractor has not met the terms of that agreement.
The BOR is the responsible agency for concession bidding, and they conducted an inefficient process, provided lax oversight, and refused to take action in a timely manner, despite constant requests from me and local government officials. Now, BOR is entering into mediation, which means even more time to dispute the concessionaire's shortcomings and provide yet another second chance.
Mr. Chairman and Members, enough is enough. Reassurances and placations from the Board of Reclamation that they're fixing the problem are no longer enough. We need the matter resolved. The residents of Lake Berryessa and the tourists who visit the area deserve to have this situation fixed.
Recreational access to the lake has been restricted, tourism is down, and the local economy has taken a hit. The summer season officially began last weekend, and there's no solution in sight to these problems.
I expect the Bureau of Reclamation to take immediate action to right these wrongs and take steps to prevent a similar nightmare from happening in my district or any of your districts.
I trust that the chairman and the ranking member share my concerns of the mismanagement of Lake Berryessa by the Bureau of Reclamation and ask that you, Mr. Chairman, and the ranking member work with me to find a way to correct BOR's previous errors and amend the concession bidding process to ensure this doesn't happen again.
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