Congress debates over water rights
Craig Baracco
Ledger Dispatch
09/09/2011
California’s water wars have moved to the halls of Congress with a key battle taking the form of legislation before local Congressman Tom McClintock’s (R-Elk Grove) subcommittee.
The latest round in the complex and long-running debate over water rights in California is HR 1837: The San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act, a bill sponsored by Rep. Devin Nunes, (R-Visalia) and currently before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, which is chaired by McClintock.
HR 1837, as currently written, will result in a shift of water resources to farmers in the western San Joaquin Valley in Fresno, Kings and Kern counties who are served by the Central Valley Project, a series of pumps, canals and reservoirs that transfers water from the wet north down to the dry San Joaquin.
Currently, western San Joaquin Valley water users have junior water rights, which puts them behind senior water right holders in the Bay Area, Sacramento Valley and foothills when it comes time to divide up California’s water and western San Joaquin farmers are the last to receive water when supplies run low. A combination of drought condition and additional environmental restrictions saw San Joaquin farmers get their water supplies cut, which was blamed for shut down farms and rising unemployment. HR 1837 is legislation specifically designed to prevent such water cut-offs again by increasing the western San Joaquin’s claim to water.
But a shift in water rights and supplies, given the complexity of water politics in California, can’t happen easily. HR 1837 has attracted a host of opponents, including environmentalists and fishermen, who fear that increased water use in the San Joaquin Valley will have a harmful effect on the Delta ecosystem and existing fish stocks as well as current senior water rights holders across Northern California, who fear the loss of their water privileges as other water users receive more rights to existing supplies.
Pete Bell, of the Foothill Conservancy, has called the legislation “an unprecedented federal intrusion into California water law.”
McClintock, whose district now includes Amador and Calaveras counties, shares the concerns about senior water rights. Reached by the Ledger Dispatch for comment, the Congressman stated that the legislation is currently on hold while negotiations take place to address concerns over water rights. “The bill will not move forward till I am assured that senior water rights are fully protected,” said McClintock. The Congressman raised other possible alternatives, such as changing the way Delta smelt are counted, resulting in a reduced need for water in the Delta.
