Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act

Floor Speech

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Mr. BERA of California. Mr. Chairman, I rise today to speak against this bill, and here is why. This bill does nothing to create additional water supplies. The water that we have already lost, we can't get that back. What we need to do is look at ways to better manage the water we have and look at ways to better conserve that water.

We are ready to do this. We are ready to work with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle as Californians. This isn't about Democrats versus Republicans. We can't pit one community against another. You are talking about families.

This is a picture of Folsom Lake in my district; 500,000 residents in our community rely on water from Folsom Lake for drinking water.

It is not about a little fish. It is about when a child goes to turn on their tap they get clean water coming out of it.

This should be under water, and if you want to understand how bad it is, let's look at this picture. This is the wet side of Folsom dam. Where is the water? This bill takes water where it doesn't exist. You can't move water if it doesn't exist.

So we stand ready to work with our colleagues in both Houses and across the aisle to look at better ways for us to manage water, better ways for us to predict and forecast weather, if you are going to have a dry season, to protect that water, and better ways to serve all of California's communities.

It can't be northern California versus southern California versus central California. It has got to be Californians working together. Let's solve this. Let's work together, and let's create a brighter future for California by managing our water together.

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Mr. BERA of California. Mr. Chairman, this amendment is simple. Supporters of this bill argue that it won't negatively impact upstream users. My constituents are these upstream users.

My amendment protects upstream users, adding safeguards for the five California delta counties. It guarantees that this politically motivated water grab would not harm the quality, quantity, or safety of drinking water supplies for these residents.

California is in the middle of a crisis. We need real solutions, not political solutions. Last year was our driest year on record. The snowpack where the State gets over a third of its water is at record lows.

We all agree there is a problem. So let's sit down, Democrats and Republicans, and work to find solutions together, not pit one community against another. In the meantime, let's not sacrifice one community. This amendment ensures that.

I reserve the balance of my time.

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Mr. BERA of California. Mr. Chairman, in closing, from my perspective, this is stating the obvious. Let's protect the water rights of the users in my community in northern California. This just codifies that. It just makes sure that when folks in the five delta counties turn on their taps, they can get clean water, quality water.

So if it is in the bill, there is no reason not to vote ``yes'' on this and codify it and make sure we are protecting those families in northern California.

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

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Mr. BERA of California. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. Speaker, I speak in support of this motion because it will make this bill better. This is about protecting existing State law, and the current bill before us takes away State law.

It is about protecting our communities, our local rights, our county rights. This motion will make this bill much better.

It is incredibly important to the residents in the five delta counties and the folks that I represent, that they have water that they can drink. This mo

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