Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Chairman, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

I rise to offer an amendment to H.R. 3964 that would preserve senior water right holders in northern California. This bill grossly oversimplifies the issue of California water, and it tries to solve the problem by causing more harm to California's water system than good.

As I mentioned during our debates about California water, we should not jeopardize the health of one part of the State for another. In northern California, we have balanced our watershed between the urban areas, agriculture, the environment. We have been good stewards and care deeply about how our watershed is preserved and grows.

This legislation would take the problems of one part of the State and export them to the other. We cannot have a lasting solution to our water problems until we work on a comprehensive solution that includes all of the stakeholders. Specifically, this bill attempts to dissolve the responsibility for 800,000 acre-feet of water for the delta environment. That doesn't solve California's water problems. It only exacerbates them.

We all know that the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta needs to be restored, not driven into further decline. The delta is a hub of California's water system. California needs it to be healthy. My amendment to H.R. 3964 seeks to amend the language regarding the elimination of water for the delta environment. The amendment also preserves senior water rights in northern California.

The underlying legislation only creates discord at a time when we need alliances. We can and must do better for California as a whole. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Chairman, my friend on the other side is trying to distract the public on what their bill actually does.

H.R. 3964 would not provide any relief from the real drought, but it would instead permanently reallocate water for one interest.

Mr. Chairman, the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act designated 800,000 acre-feet of water for environmental purposes. This water is important. It is used to balance our water needs between urban, agricultural, and environment.

This so-called ``b2'' water was dedicated to help stem the rapid decline of the delta ecosystem. H.R. 3964 repeals the ``b2'' water allocation in the CVPIA unless 800,000 acre-feet of additional capacity is found by 2018. Who is going to make up the 800,000 acre-feet by 2018?

As written, the bill would relieve the south delta CVP users of any responsibility for the environmental water. Instead, it would attempt to shift the responsibilities to northern California, putting into jeopardy senior water rights holders in northern California.

Mr. Chairman, my district, the city of Sacramento, and Sacramento County wrote letters stating what we all know. This is a backdoor attempt to undermine longstanding California water rights and let one interest jump to the head of the line.

In short, this bill is another blatant water grab from northern California.

Mr. Chairman, my amendment will protect senior water rights holders in northern California and assure we are all in this together in California. We should not pit one against another.

Again, this bill will not help alleviate the drought. Even if we pumped as much water south as possible, Central Valley farmers still wouldn't have enough. That is because a lack of pumping is not the problem. The problem is a lack of rain and snow. There is no more water to pump.

Northern California is in severe drought. This bill does not solve California's drought. It only further divides our State.

Mr. Chairman, again, I urge my colleagues to support my amendment, and I reserve the balance of my time.

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Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Chairman, I will just say this. I grew up in the Central Valley. My father was a farmer. So I understand clearly the challenges the farming community has.

I am not an individual who dismisses the farming community. I lived on a farm. My father was a small farmer. My grandfather was a farmer. My uncle was a farmer. So I understand these challenges.

I also understand we are together in California, and we must work together, and we should be using this time to find real solutions to California's water issues, including the drought. Unfortunately, we seem to be playing partisan games.

My amendment would simply protect water rights in northern California. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment, and I yield back the balance of my time.

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