Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015
Floor Speech
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Mr. Chairman, I thank my friend from Wyoming, who has been a huge support on this legislation.
I hear on the other side that there are no real solutions in this bill, real solutions that actually help deliver water; and that frustrates me to no end because there are a lot of solutions that have a lot of support.
We also hear that this delta smelt has had no impact on pumping this water out of the delta, when the Bureau of Reclamation, through their own estimates, say about a million acre-feet annually is impacted between the Central Valley project and the State water project. That is a government agency that is doing the restricting and holding back the water that is telling us themselves.
Then every year in the news, we hear another three fish were caught in the pumps. They are looking and counting, and they are already starting to figure out when they are going to turn the pumps off again so they can restrict the pumping of those fish.
Then we hear this does not have an impact on farmworkers. Farmworkers aren't looking for your handouts. They are sick and tired of sitting at home and taking a check. They want to work. They want to produce.
They want to walk into a grocery store with the money they earned and purchase the products that they were involved in growing. To them, that is a sign of the American dream. It is a sign of having the opportunity to produce and to be a productive member of society and to show their family and raise their family in an environment that allows them to grow with a little bit of respect and dignity for what they do.
Now, as far as the solutions in this bill that they claim don't exist, reservoirs are a big deal. That is what holds water so that we can use it for later on in periods like now. We actually asked to streamline the process so we can get those approved quicker.
We have asked to end the studies that have been going on for nearly 15 years. We are 13 years into it, and $150 million of taxpayer money has been spent studying these things to no end. We want to end that. I don't think that is unreasonable. The President seems to think it is, but I don't see how it possibly could be.
We target predator species that are actually having an impact on the delta smelt. According to studies, you hear about 95 percent of those delta smelt and salmonoid are being consumed by these predator species. We offer a solution in order to take care of that problem.
Real science, we asked for a layer of bureaucracy. My opponent or my friend from the other side seems to think it is a layer of bureaucracy, but we are asking for real science to be put in place to make sure that, when we decide to turn off these pumps to hurt the communities in the Central Valley, to put these people out of work, that real science is actually used; and we actually try to verify that things are actually accomplishing something when we turn these pumps off.
As far as hearings, we have had hearings. We wanted those hearings in the valley. We took the request of our friends on the other side, and we had the hearing right there in Fresno in the heart of the problem so they can see for themselves what this is causing, what effect this is having in our communities.
Like my friend from Wyoming mentioned, we had one person show up; and I would like to thank that gentleman for coming, Mr. Costa, and spending some time. It is his hometown, so he understands the issue well.
This is something that we take very seriously. This bill is a comprehensive bill that covers a lot of different topics, but it also helps deliver real water. I don't know what the difference between wet water and dry water is, but we are looking to deliver real water to the valley.
If this didn't deliver real water like they claim, what are they afraid of? What is the fear of this legislation passing if it doesn't deliver, in their own words?
We are looking to get some water, helping our community and helping people get back to work and grow delicious, wonderful American food that we are very proud of.
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