HR 1837- An End Run Around State Water Rights, National Environmental Protection

Opposition to HR 1837- A Political End Run Around State Water Rights and National Environmental Protections

H.R. 1837 (Nunes) is scheduled for a hearing on June 2nd in the House Subcommittee on Water and Power. A coalition of 16 environmental and fishery groups sent a letter on May 20, 2011 opposing H.R. 1837.

This bill will largely benefit junior federal water contractors—especially Westlands Water District—by giving them permanent contracts for water provided through the federal Central Valley Project where tax dollars and subsidies already have benefited these corporate irrigators for over the last 40 years. Attached is a letter sent out from consumer, fishing and conservation groups.

The bill would provide these Westside irrigators with permanent water allocations that will impact other water users throughout the state. This publicly developed water could then be sold to the highest bidder at some later date. Westlands et. al. would reap the windfall profits not the taxpayer who paid for the water development.

Equally the bill will eviscerate environmental and water quality protective measures to ensure a viable fishery throughout the west coast. Additionally, it will scrap millions of federal and state dollars spent to try to remedy damage by the federal Central Valley Project. The bill will also significantly impact water conservation measures that have been critical in providing much needed water supplies especially to Southern California.

On May 16th, Westlands and a few other water districts participated in Congressman Nunes’ press conference regarding his new bill - http://www.fresnobee.com/2011/05/16/2390160/nunes-pushes-bill-to-boost-water.html This appears to violate the “blood oath” that Westlands and others signed at Senator Feinstein’s request, in which water interests pledged to oppose legislation designed to block or modify the San Joaquin River restoration agreement.

Footnote #1 in the letter summarizes in brief some of the potential consequences of this bill on the BDCP, state law, the San Joaquin River, the CVPIA and other water users. For example, this bill would pre-empt state water rights, making senior water users in the Delta and upstream responsible for protecting the Bay-Delta, and capping the contribution of junior water users at the levels provided in the 1994 Bay-Delta Accord. That agreement, of course, predates the collapse of the ecosystem, the listing of several species, recent scientific analysis and the dramatic increase in pumping by the CVP and SWP during the 2000s.

In short, this legislation would have disastrous impacts on the Bay-Delta, the salmon fishery, senior water rights holders and the prospects for BDCP and other efforts to make progress in the Delta.

Salmon Water Now has a great video on H.R. 1837 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me6qEpSgack&hd=1
If you have any questions or comments please contact C-WIN at info [at] c-win.org.