Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. Speaker, across the West and particularly in California, we are in the fourth year of a prolonged drought that is placing us at increased risk for wildfires.

The underlying bill would harm not just one community or industrial sector, but would undercut years of existing water policy and put communities like mine in San Diego in more danger. The images of depleted reservoirs, lakes, and streams drying up abound, with millions of dead trees littering our forests. As The New York Times reported just yesterday: ``For those who know fire, fuel is now all they see.''

We are in the midst of what we expect to be a long and harsh wildfire season. Just since January 1, California fire officials have responded to more than 3,300 wildfires, which is a thousand more than the average from the last 5 years.

The lake fire that started just a month ago has consumed an area of national forest roughly the size of San Francisco, and the dozens of wildfires that erupted in San Diego last May burned thousands of acres and destroyed 65 homes. Projections show that the cost of fighting wildfires this year could reach up to $2.1 billion, far above the roughly $450 million spent annually in the 1990s.

It is not just money at stake. Two of the most deadly wildfires in California history, the Witch and Cedar fires occurred in San Diego and killed 17 people. This is also a matter of life and death.

This bill does not make it rain; no one can do that. It simply undermines the State of California's water policies to move water away from one set of communities and into different ones.

The motion to recommit requires that, as we make changes to Western water allocations, we ensure there is enough water in reservoirs, lakes, and community supplies to make sure that wildfires can be fought when they occur, which they certainly will. It also ensures that we honor the existing tribal water rights and protect the health of those communities.

I urge my colleagues to support this motion to recommit and to oppose the underlying legislation.

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