Today’s announcement by Senator Feinstein of the introduction of a new water bill to the United States Senate comes as welcome news as drought-stricken California struggles to capture and store storm flows desperately needed for 2016.
Senator Feinstein’s bill provides a good starting point for compromise legislation that, if passed, would provide Congressional direction on how government agencies regulating the Central Valley and State Water Projects implement the Endangered Species Act- while providing guidance on the development of new water supplies to meet the future needs of California and other Western States.
Prompt, collaborative action by Congress and the Obama Administration to break three years of political impasse, which has led to unprecedented and unnecessary suffering by those dependent on California’s water projects, could help to provide some measure of relief in the coming months.
To read a copy of a joint statement by the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority, Westlands Water District, Kern County Water Agency, Friant Water Authority, South Valley Water Association, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, Friant North Authority and the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority, click here.
For a summary of the bill, please click here.
For the full text of the bill, please click here.