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Current Issue Links
McCarthy backs effort to help farmers
Delta drying up because of laws protecting endangered species
As agricultural interests across California’s Central Valley reel in the wake of hundreds of millions of
dollars of drought-related losses this year, members of Congress including Rep. Kevin McCarthy are pushing
changes to environmental laws that reduced deliveries of water to the state’s farms.
Legislative sparks began flying last week when McCarthy became the first of nearly 50 representatives to
join Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Clovis) in circulating a petition to force Nunes’ bill – the Turn on the Pumps Act —
out of committee and onto the House of Representatives floor for debate.
Turn on the Pumps (H.R. 3105) would bar federal and state agencies from relying on any biological
opinion regarding endangered species when setting pumping limits on California’s Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.
Such an opinion stating that pumping was harmful to delta smelt — small fish that lives only in the delta
and waters near Suisun Bay — was the basis of a federal court order in August 2007 severely limiting
pumping for municipal and agricultural use.
Implementation of that order by the Bureau of Reclamation and California Department of Water Resources
severely cut deliveries from the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, two systems that transfer water
through the delta from areas of relatively high rainfail in the Sacramento Valley to dry areas in the San Joaquin
Valley.
The reduced water deliveries led to an estimated $710 million in lost agricultural productivity and resulted
in 35,000 workers losing their jobs.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed his administration to waive the waiting period for unemployment
benefits for affected workers and expanded food aid around Fresno, where most of the job losses occurred.
But attempts by the governor to elicit federal cooperation failed. His administration’s application to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency for federal distaster relief was rejected. Letters from his
administration to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service requesting
further consultation with his administration about the smelt also went unanswered.
If H.R. 3105 is enacted, it would bypass those federal agencies. It would set the minumum that the state
and federal water projects could deliver to protect endangered species at the highest level ever delivered.
The bill has met opposition in committee, mostly from Democrats. Nunes’ petition — backed by fellow
Republicans — would pry the bill from committee and onto the floor. There it could be debated but not
amended.
Nunes said the petition was necessary after California water officials announced late last month that they
expected to deliver the smallest amount of water in the history of the State Water Project — just 5 percent of
requested deliveries from communities, farms, and businesses.
McCarthy is also supporting three other measures that aim to review or suspend provisions of the
Endangered Species Act as it relates to water supply. H.R. 856 would specifically waive regulations related to
delta smelt during times of drought.
H.R. 996 would temporarily suspend protection of the act for species impacted by water supply or flood
control projects during declared states of emergency.
And H.R. 2977 would authorize a National Academy of Sciences review of all threats to species in the delta —
including a review of the biological opinion that originally led to reduced water deliveries.
dollars of drought-related losses this year, members of Congress including Rep. Kevin McCarthy are pushing
changes to environmental laws that reduced deliveries of water to the state’s farms.
Legislative sparks began flying last week when McCarthy became the first of nearly 50 representatives to
join Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Clovis) in circulating a petition to force Nunes’ bill – the Turn on the Pumps Act —
out of committee and onto the House of Representatives floor for debate.
Turn on the Pumps (H.R. 3105) would bar federal and state agencies from relying on any biological
opinion regarding endangered species when setting pumping limits on California’s Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.
Such an opinion stating that pumping was harmful to delta smelt — small fish that lives only in the delta
and waters near Suisun Bay — was the basis of a federal court order in August 2007 severely limiting
pumping for municipal and agricultural use.
Implementation of that order by the Bureau of Reclamation and California Department of Water Resources
severely cut deliveries from the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, two systems that transfer water
through the delta from areas of relatively high rainfail in the Sacramento Valley to dry areas in the San Joaquin
Valley.
The reduced water deliveries led to an estimated $710 million in lost agricultural productivity and resulted
in 35,000 workers losing their jobs.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed his administration to waive the waiting period for unemployment
benefits for affected workers and expanded food aid around Fresno, where most of the job losses occurred.
But attempts by the governor to elicit federal cooperation failed. His administration’s application to the
Federal Emergency Management Agency for federal distaster relief was rejected. Letters from his
administration to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service requesting
further consultation with his administration about the smelt also went unanswered.
If H.R. 3105 is enacted, it would bypass those federal agencies. It would set the minumum that the state
and federal water projects could deliver to protect endangered species at the highest level ever delivered.
The bill has met opposition in committee, mostly from Democrats. Nunes’ petition — backed by fellow
Republicans — would pry the bill from committee and onto the floor. There it could be debated but not
amended.
Nunes said the petition was necessary after California water officials announced late last month that they
expected to deliver the smallest amount of water in the history of the State Water Project — just 5 percent of
requested deliveries from communities, farms, and businesses.
McCarthy is also supporting three other measures that aim to review or suspend provisions of the
Endangered Species Act as it relates to water supply. H.R. 856 would specifically waive regulations related to
delta smelt during times of drought.
H.R. 996 would temporarily suspend protection of the act for species impacted by water supply or flood
control projects during declared states of emergency.
And H.R. 2977 would authorize a National Academy of Sciences review of all threats to species in the delta —
including a review of the biological opinion that originally led to reduced water deliveries.
By ADAM L. R. SUMMERS
News Review Staff Writer
News Review Staff Writer
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