Obama will veto HR 1837 if it passes Senate

Obama will veto HR 1837 if it passes Senate

by Dan Bacher

The House of Representatives on February 29 voted 246-175 to approve a water grab by powerful corporate agribusiness interests in the San Joaquin Valley that will reverse decades of laws that protect fish and water supplies, but President Barack Obama has indicated he will veto the legislation if it ever passes through the Senate.

The Obama administration, in a statement on February 28, said it “strongly opposes” H.R. 1837, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act, because the bill “would unravel decades of work to forge consensus, solutions, and settlements that equitably address some of California's most complex water challenges.”

The bill is sponsored by Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) and cosponsored by Representatives Jeff Denham (R-CA) Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) - and opposed by over 200 organizations including fishing groups, Indian Tribes, environmental groups, family farming organizations and California businesses.

“H.R. 1837 would undermine five years of collaboration between local, State, and Federal stakeholders to develop the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan,” according to the White House. “ “It would codify 20-year old, outdated science as the basis for managing California's water resources, resulting in inequitable treatment of one group of water users over another. And, contrary to 100 years of reclamation law that exhibits congressional deference to State water law, the bill would preempt California water law,” the statement continued.

The bill also would reject the long-standing principle that beneficiaries should pay both the cost of developing water supplies and of mitigating any resulting development impacts, and would exacerbate current water shortages by repealing water pricing reforms that provide incentives for contractors to conserve water supplies, according to the Administration.

“Finally, H.R. 1837 would repeal the San Joaquin River Settlement Agreement, which the Congress enacted to resolve 18 years of contentious litigation. Repeal of the settlement agreement would likely result in the resumption of costly litigation, creating an uncertain future for river restoration and water delivery operations for all water users on the San Joaquin River,” the White House stated.

“The Administration strongly supports efforts to provide a more reliable water supply for California and to protect, restore, and enhance the overall quality of the Bay-Delta environment. The Administration has taken great strides toward achieving these co-equal goals through a coordinated Federal Action Plan, which has strengthened collaboration between Federal agencies and the State of California while achieving solid results. Unfortunately, H.R. 1837 would undermine these efforts and the progress that has been made. For this reason, were the Congress to pass H.R. 1837, the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill,” the Administrationconcluded.

Bill opposed for the wrong reason

I am glad that the Obama administration is officially opposed to HR 1837 – and has pledged it would veto the bill.

Unfortunately, the administration is opposed to Nunes' job-killing legislation for the wrong reason - because it would undermine the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to build the peripheral canal to export more water to corporate agribusiness and southern California.

Since he assumed office in 2009, President Barack Obama has conducted an unprecedented campaign to eviscerate protections for fish, fishing communities and the environment.

First, the Obama administration has fast tracked the FDA approval of the first genetically engineered animal, AquaBounty’s Atlantic salmon, for human consumption. These “Frankenfish,” if they escaped into the wild, would devastate imperiled West Coast and East Coast salmon populations.

Second, the Obama’s NOAA Administrator, Jane Lubchenco, has promoted the adoption of economically and environmentally destructive "catch shares" programs in an effort to privatize ocean resources. Wherever these programs have been introduced, the consolidation of fisheries into a few corporate hands and the devastation of marine ecosystems have occurred.

Third, Obama’s Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, a strong backer of California’s controversial Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative, has authorized a series of U.S. Navy warfare training exercises along the coast of California, Oregon and Washington that will harm dozens of protected species of marine mammals—southern resident killer whales, blue whales, humpback whales, dolphins, and porpoises—through the use of high-intensity mid-frequency sonar.

Fourth, the Obama administration is the first one to officially endorse the peripheral canal, a scheme to deliver more Delta water to corporate agribusiness and southern California at the expense of Delta farms, communities and fish. The export of more water would likely lead to the extinction of imperiled Sacramento River chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and striped bass populations.

Nunes and his corporate welfare Republicans, through HR 1837, are trying to steal northern California water outright, with no "habitat restoration" to greenwash the water grab as in the case of the BDCP.

Either way, with HR 1837 or the peripheral canal, Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are likely to become extinct. We must oppose both the canal and HR 1837 - and not fall into the trap of ever supporting the BDCP because it would be "better" for fish and the environment than Devin Nunes' horrible legislation.

The corporate welfare Republican support of HR 1837 and the corporate welfare Democrat support of the peripheral canal shows the complete bankruptcy and corruption of our political system.