WASHINGTON - Today the Natural Resources Committee will vote on legislation that would wrest control of state water rights away from California, undo a local settlement over water rights that was decades in the making, and revert back to mid-1990s endangered species analysis to allow all of this to happen. In response to this latest attack in the ongoing "Republican War on Water", the Democratic staff of the Natural Resources Committee today released a report detailing the extreme provisions of HR 1837, the "San Joaquin Valley Water Uncertainty Act".
The bill, authored by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and co-sponsored by Republican Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), would undo a settlement reached by the state of California, local ranchers, farmers and other users of water from the San Joaquin River that was decades in the making. The bill would instead open up water rights to the highest and most-favored corporate bidders, making water a Washington-controlled corporate commodity instead of a California community asset.
This vote also will occur on the same day as the Republican efforts in the House to open up the East, West and Florida coasts to drilling in their futile attempt to pass a transportation bill.
The report, "Cutting Off the Headwaters", was completed at the direction of Reps. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee, and Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), the Ranking Member of the Water and Power Subcommittee in the Natural Resources Committee.
Read the report >>
"It's not enough that this week House Republicans are exposing all of our coasts to drilling in their sham of a transportation bill, they want to cede our river water to corporations as well," said Rep. Markey. "This is yet another example of the Republican war on water that wrests control away from the states and puts the American people's water up to the highest corporate bidder."
"A new round of costly lawsuits and much environmental damage are just a few of the negatives this bill would bring to California," Rep. Napolitano said. "The rules in this federal legislation would take precedence over the water rights of Californians, undoing years of negotiations and setting up a new round of water wars, which means more employment for lawyers but not much for anybody else. This attempt to jump to the head of the water delivery line would be disastrous for all of California and set a dangerous precedent for other states."
The bill has been opposed by the a water council appointed by western state governors, the Department of Interior, the California Natural Resources Agency, and many state and other elected officials.
