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+
+ - OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE STATE OF WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY IN THE 21st CENTURY
+
+[House Hearing, 116 Congress]
+[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
+
+
+
+ THE STATE OF WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY IN THE 21st CENTURY
+
+=======================================================================
+
+ OVERSIGHT HEARING
+
+ BEFORE THE
+
+ SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, OCEANS, AND WILDLIFE
+
+ OF THE
+
+ COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
+ U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
+
+ ONE HUNDRED SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
+
+ FIRST SESSION
+
+ __________
+
+ Tuesday, February 26, 2019
+
+ __________
+
+ Serial No. 116-6
+
+ __________
+
+ Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
+
+ [GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+
+ Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
+ or
+ Committee address: http://naturalresources.house.gov
+
+
+ __________
+
+ U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
+35-277 PDF WASHINGTON : 2019
+
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office,
+http://bookstore.gpo.gov. For more information, contact the GPO Customer Contact Center,
+U.S. Government Publishing Office. Phone 202-512-1800, or 866-512-1800 (toll-free).
+E-mail, [email protected].
+
+
+
+ COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
+
+ RAUL M. GRIJALVA, AZ, Chair
+ DEBRA A. HAALAND, NM, Vice Chair
+ GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN, CNMI, Vice Chair, Insular Affairs
+ ROB BISHOP, UT, Ranking Republican Member
+
+Grace F. Napolitano, CA Don Young, AK
+Jim Costa, CA Louie Gohmert, TX
+Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Doug Lamborn, CO
+ CNMI Robert J. Wittman, VA
+Jared Huffman, CA Tom McClintock, CA
+Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Paul A. Gosar, AZ
+Ruben Gallego, AZ Paul Cook, CA
+TJ Cox, CA Bruce Westerman, AR
+Joe Neguse, CO Garret Graves, LA
+Mike Levin, CA Jody B. Hice, GA
+Debra A. Haaland, NM Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS
+Jefferson Van Drew, NJ Daniel Webster, FL
+Joe Cunningham, SC Liz Cheney, WY
+Nydia M. Velazquez, NY Mike Johnson, LA
+Diana DeGette, CO Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, PR
+Wm. Lacy Clay, MO John R. Curtis, UT
+Debbie Dingell, MI Kevin Hern, OK
+Anthony G. Brown, MD Russ Fulcher, ID
+A. Donald McEachin, VA
+Darren Soto, FL
+Ed Case, HI
+Steven Horsford, NV
+Michael F. Q. San Nicolas, GU
+Matt Cartwright, PA
+Paul Tonko, NY
+Vacancy
+
+ David Watkins, Chief of Staff
+ Sarah Lim, Chief Counsel
+ Parish Braden, Republican Staff Director
+ http://naturalresources.house.gov
+
+ ------
+
+ SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER, OCEANS, AND WILDLIFE
+
+ JARED HUFFMAN, CA, Chair
+ TOM McCLINTOCK, CA, Ranking Republican Member
+
+Grace F. Napolitano, CA Doug Lamborn, CO
+Jim Costa, CA Robert J. Wittman, VA
+Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan, Garret Graves, LA
+ CNMI Jody B. Hice, GA
+Jefferson Van Drew, NJ Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen, AS
+Nydia M. Velazquez, NY Daniel Webster, FL
+Anthony G. Brown, MD Mike Johnson, LA
+Ed Case, HI Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon, PR
+Alan S. Lowenthal, CA Russ Fulcher, ID
+TJ Cox, CA Rob Bishop, UT, ex officio
+Joe Neguse, CO
+Mike Levin, CA
+Joe Cunningham, SC
+Raul M. Grijalva, AZ, ex officio
+
+ -----------
+
+ CONTENTS
+
+ ----------
+ Page
+
+Hearing held on Tuesday, February 26, 2019....................... 1
+
+Statement of Members:
+ Huffman, Hon. Jared, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of California........................................ 1
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 3
+ McClintock, Hon. Tom, a Representative in Congress from the
+ State of California........................................ 4
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 6
+
+Statement of Witnesses:
+
+ Diedrich, Bill, Family Farm Alliance, Los Banos, California.. 34
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 35
+ Ibach, Harrison, President, Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing
+ Association, Humboldt, California.......................... 47
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 48
+ Nelson, Jonathan, Policy Director, Community Water Center,
+ Visalia, California........................................ 19
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 20
+ Udall, Brad, Senior Water and Climate Research Scientist,
+ Colorado Water Institute, Colorado State University, Fort
+ Collins, Colorado.......................................... 7
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 9
+ Willardson, Tony, Executive Director, Western States Water
+ Council, Murray, Utah...................................... 23
+ Prepared statement of.................................... 25
+ Questions submitted for the record....................... 32
+Additional Materials Submitted for the Record:
+
+ Rep. Cox Submission
+
+ South Valley Water Association, statement for the record. 64
+
+ Rep. Napolitano Submission
+
+ Napolitano, Hon. Grace F., Letter to Secretary of the
+ Interior, dated August 28, 2009........................ 65
+
+ Rep. Van Drew Submission
+
+ Van Drew, Hon. Jefferson, Letter to Chairman Grijalva,
+ dated February 26, 2019................................ 69
+
+
+
+
+OVERSIGHT HEARING ON THE STATE OF WATER SUPPLY RELIABILITY IN THE 21st
+ CENTURY
+
+ ----------
+
+
+ Tuesday, February 26, 2019
+
+ U.S. House of Representatives
+
+ Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife
+
+ Committee on Natural Resources
+
+ Washington, DC
+
+ ----------
+
+ The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:02 a.m., in
+room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Jared Huffman
+[Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
+ Present: Representatives Huffman, Napolitano, Costa,
+Sablan, Cox, Neguse, Levin, Cunningham; McClintock, Hice,
+Radewagen, and Fulcher.
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Good morning, everyone. The Subcommittee on
+Water, Oceans, and Wildlife will come to order.
+ The Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on the
+state of water supply reliability in the 21st century.
+ Under Committee Rule 4(f), any opening statements at this
+hearing will be limited to the Chairman, the Ranking Member,
+the Vice Chair, and the Vice Ranking Member. This allows us to
+hear from our witnesses sooner and helps keep Members on
+schedule. Therefore, I ask unanimous consent that all other
+Members' opening statements be made part of the record if they
+are submitted to the Committee Clerk by 5 p.m. today, or the
+close of the hearing, whichever comes first.
+ Hearing no objection, it is so ordered.
+
+ STATEMENT OF THE HON. JARED HUFFMAN, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
+ CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thanks, everyone, for joining us today. I
+believe this is an important hearing, an important chance to
+examine the state of water supply reliability in our Nation.
+ As I mentioned at our last WOW Subcommittee hearing, one of
+my goals this Congress is to focus on the factual and the
+scientific baseline for natural resource issues in this
+Subcommittee's jurisdiction through what I informally referred
+to as ``WOW 101'' hearings. This is the second one.
+ Finding consensus on tough issues, of course, is hard. But
+I believe we can make progress on that front if we can develop
+a common understanding of the baseline facts and science before
+jumping right into the most contentious policy debates. And
+that is why we are having these hearings.
+ I am also personally meeting with every member of this
+Subcommittee on both sides of the aisle, to get feedback and
+explore areas where we can work together. Thanks to the members
+that have met with me so far. I truly believe that there are
+good ideas on both sides of the aisle, and I am hopeful this
+Subcommittee will disprove that old notion that ``water is for
+fighting over,'' and instead work to come up with common-sense,
+scientifically-based solutions to the challenges we face.
+ So, let's get started. Today, we will be looking at the
+state of our Nation's water supply and water supply challenges.
+As many here know, the western United States has been suffering
+from frequent and increasingly severe drought in recent years.
+ For example, in my home state of California, we recently
+emerged from the state's worst drought in 1,200 years,
+according to some credible scientific reports. In the northern
+Great Plains, we recently experienced an extreme drought that
+NOAA categorized as a ``$1 billion disaster.'' And the Colorado
+River, which supplies water to 40 million people and 5.5
+million acres of farmland in seven western states and Mexico,
+is currently going through its 19th year of drought, with no
+end in sight.
+ Today, we will hear from witnesses about the specific
+challenges caused by these water shortages. We will hear today
+from community voices about what happens when rural communities
+literally run out of water for basic human needs because of
+drying wells. We will hear how water shortages have impacted
+coastal communities and thousands of fishermen. In my district
+and along the Pacific Coast, fishing families have been dealt
+multi-million-dollar blows in recent years because of water
+shortages that have battered our salmon fisheries.
+ We will also hear about the great costs of water shortages
+to agriculture, cities, tribes, and western states.
+ And, finally, we will hear today what the science says
+about how climate pressures will make our water challenges more
+difficult in the future. Climate pressures, including warming
+temperatures, shrinking snowpack, more volatile precipitation,
+rising seas, just to name a few, will reduce our water supply
+and impact millions of Americans. It is important that this
+Subcommittee soberly assess and plan for these challenges.
+ Part of that process requires a thoughtful evaluation of
+policy options. I look forward to a thorough examination of the
+policy options that this Subcommittee can pursue to promote
+water supply reliability and resilience now and in the years to
+come.
+ One policy option that we will hopefully agree on is the
+need to invest in water infrastructure. Much of our existing
+infrastructure is nearing the end of its design life and is in
+great need of maintenance and repair.
+ Last Congress, I worked across the aisle with
+Representative Gosar on a bill that would regularly require the
+Bureau of Reclamation to assess and publicly disclose major
+repair and rehabilitation needs for Reclamation projects. That
+bill recently passed the Senate as part of the omnibus public
+lands package, and I think it is a good first step in working
+across the aisle to address our repair and maintenance needs. I
+hope we will see it move through the House and signed by the
+President soon.
+ I will also commit to work across the aisle on other areas
+of bipartisan agreement, such as the need to construct new
+water infrastructure to grow our water supply. That new
+infrastructure can include a variety of projects, including
+smart storage, water reuse, desalination, and water-use
+efficiency projects. It is imperative that this Subcommittee
+work on these kinds of common-sense projects that will promote
+water supply reliability for all stakeholders.
+ To conclude, I look forward to this Subcommittee evaluating
+and addressing our water challenges in a deliberative and open
+way. Communities need clean water to drink. Farmers need water
+to irrigate their crops. Fish and wildlife and the people whose
+livelihood depend on them need water to survive and to thrive.
+This Subcommittee will work hard to ensure water supply
+reliability for all of these important stakeholders.
+ Finally, I would like to welcome members of the Association
+of California Water Agencies, ACWA. I see several in the crowd
+here this morning. We look forward to working with you on all
+of these issues to promote water supply sustainability and
+reliability.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Huffman follows:]
+ Prepared Statement of the Hon. Jared Huffman, Chair, Subcommittee on
+ Water, Oceans, and Wildlife
+ Thank you everyone for joining us today for an important hearing
+examining the state of water supply reliability in our Nation.
+ As I mentioned at our last ``WOW'' hearing, one of my goals this
+Congress is to work to reset the factual and scientific baseline for
+natural resources issues in this Subcommittee's jurisdiction through
+what I informally refer to as ``WOW 101.''
+ Finding consensus on tough issues is a formidable task. But I
+believe we can make progress on that front if we can develop a common
+understanding of the baseline facts and science before jumping right
+into the most contentious policy debates. That's why we're having these
+101 hearings.
+ I am also personally meeting with every member of this
+Subcommittee, on both sides of the aisle, to solicit feedback and
+explore areas where we can work together. I truly believe there are
+good ideas on both sides of the aisle. And I'm hopeful that this
+Subcommittee can work together to disprove that old notion that ``water
+is for fighting over,'' and instead work to come up with common-sense,
+scientifically-based solutions to the challenges before us.
+ So, let's get started. Today, we'll be looking at the state of our
+Nation's water supply and the water supply challenges we'll face in the
+21st century.
+
+ As many here know, the western United States has been suffering
+from frequent and increasingly severe drought in recent years:
+ For example, in my home state of California, we recently emerged
+from the state's worst drought in 1,200 years, according to some
+scientific reports.
+ In the northern Great Plains, we recently experienced an extreme
+drought that NOAA categorized as a ``billion-dollar disaster.''
+ And the Colorado River--which supplies water to 40 million people
+and 5.5 million acres of farmland in seven western states and Mexico--
+is currently going through its 19th year of drought, with no end in
+sight.
+
+ Today, we'll hear from witnesses about the specific challenges
+caused by these water shortages.
+ We'll hear today from community voices about what happens when
+rural communities literally run out of water for basic human needs
+because of drying wells. We'll hear how water shortages have impacted
+coastal communities and thousands of fishermen. In my district and
+along the Pacific Coast, fishing families have been dealt multi-
+million-dollar blows in recent years because of water shortages that
+have battered our fisheries. We'll also hear about the great costs of
+water shortages to agriculture, cities, tribes, and western states.
+ And finally, we'll hear today what the science says about how
+climate pressures will make our water challenges more difficult in the
+future. Climate pressures--including warming temperatures, shrinking
+snowpack, more volatile precipitation, and rising seas, to name a few--
+will reduce our water supply and impact millions of Americans. It's
+important that this Subcommittee soberly assess and plan for these
+challenges.
+ Part of that planning requires a thoughtful evaluation of policy
+options. I look forward to a thorough examination of the policy options
+that this Subcommittee can pursue to promote water supply reliability
+now and in the years to come.
+ One policy option that we'll all hopefully agree on is the need to
+invest in our water infrastructure. Much of our existing water
+infrastructure is nearing the end of its design life and is in great
+need of maintenance and repair.
+ Last Congress, I worked across the aisle with Representative Gosar
+on a bill that would regularly require the Bureau of Reclamation to
+assess and publicly disclose major repair and rehabilitation needs for
+Reclamation water projects. That bill recently passed the Senate as
+part of the omnibus public lands package, and I think it is a good
+first step in working across the aisle to address our repair and
+maintenance needs. I hope we see it move through the House and signed
+by the President soon.
+ I'll also commit to work across the aisle on other areas of
+bipartisan agreement--such as the need to construct new water
+infrastructure to grow our water supply. That new infrastructure can
+include a variety of projects, including smart storage, water reuse,
+desalination, and water-use efficiency projects. It's imperative that
+this Subcommittee work on these kinds of common-sense projects that
+will promote water supply reliability for all stakeholders.
+ So, to conclude, I look forward to using my role on this
+Subcommittee to evaluate and address our water challenges in a
+deliberative and open way. Communities need clean water to drink.
+Farmers need water to irrigate their crops. Fish and wildlife and the
+people whose livelihoods depend on them need water to survive and
+thrive. This Subcommittee will work hard to ensure water supply
+reliability for all of these important stakeholders.
+ Ranking Member McClintock, I hope we can find opportunities to work
+together to get things done. While we may have some differences in
+outlook, there are many common-sense solutions that Republicans and
+Democrats can pursue on this Subcommittee, and I hope you'll join us in
+that effort.
+ Finally, I would like to welcome members of the Association of
+California Water Agencies in the audience today--we look forward to
+hearing from you and working with you as well to promote water supply
+reliability.
+ With that, I want to invite the Ranking Member to say a few
+remarks, and then we will welcome and introduce our witnesses.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. With that, I want to invite the Ranking Member
+to say a few remarks, and then we will welcome and introduce
+our witnesses.
+
+ STATEMENT OF THE HON. TOM McCLINTOCK, A REPRESENTATIVE IN
+ CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
+
+ Mr. McClintock. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. According to the
+EPA, since 1901, global precipitation has actually increased at
+an average rate of roughly one-tenth of an inch per decade,
+while precipitation in the contiguous 48 states has increased
+at a rate of nearly two-tenths of an inch per decade. Globally,
+annual rainfall alone produces roughly 18,000 gallons of fresh
+water every day for every man, woman, and child on this planet.
+The problem is this abundance of fresh water is unevenly
+distributed over time and space.
+ Throughout the 20th century, it was the policy of this
+government to guarantee abundant water for all the people and
+regions of our country. We built reservoirs to transfer water
+from wet years to dry years, and we built canals to transfer
+water from wet regions to dry ones. By doing so, we made the
+deserts bloom, we protected our communities from floods and
+droughts, and we opened up vast tracts of land to support a
+prosperous population made possible by water abundance.
+ Sadly, these policies were reversed over the last 45 years.
+In my region, 4 years of drought, combined with massive pulse-
+flow water releases mandated by environmental laws, drained our
+reservoirs to nearly deadpool levels. The next year, an
+atmospheric river opened up, requiring the loss of massive
+amounts of water to the ocean, because we had no place to store
+it--not for lack of suitable sites, but because of inaction in
+using them.
+ The climate is constantly changing, which requires constant
+adaptation. Up until 5,000 years ago, the Sahara was one of the
+wetter regions of our planet, with frequent monsoons that
+produced the largest freshwater lake in the world. During the
+Roman warm period, much of the Roman grain supply was grown in
+North Africa.
+ The foresight of America's 20th century water engineers
+should be more apparent today. In the modern warm period, water
+will be stored for less time as snow in the mountains, which
+means that without new reservoirs to capture this runoff, it
+will be lost to the ocean.
+ During the last several Congresses, the House sent major
+legislation to the Senate to expedite and reform the permitting
+process that has made the construction of new reservoirs
+endlessly time consuming and ultimately cost-prohibitive.
+Unfortunately, the Senate failed to act.
+ As one example, the Shasta Dam was built to an elevation of
+600 feet and stores about 4\1/2\ million acre-feet of water.
+But it was designed to an elevation of 800 feet. The difference
+is 9 million acre-feet of water storage. Yet, less than 20 feet
+of additional elevation, about 600,000 acre-feet of additional
+storage, has been stalled for decades in an endless cycle of
+environmental studies with no end in sight.
+ Droughts are nature's fault. They happen. But water
+shortages are our fault. They are a choice that we made when we
+stopped building adequate storage to meet the needs of the next
+generation.
+ We are told that reservoirs are old-fashioned, and we must
+look to solutions like conservation, recycling, and
+desalination. Well, we need to understand what that actually
+means.
+ Conservation does not add a drop to our water supply, it
+merely copes with the shortage that our own policies have
+imposed. And there is a limit to how much conservation can be
+mandated before it begins to have a significant negative impact
+on the quality of life for our people. Californians are soon to
+get a major lesson in this when mandated, year-round water
+rationing signed by Governor Brown takes effect in a few years.
+ Recycling and desalination makes sense in deserts where
+water is scarce and can't be imported. Fortunately, most
+regions of our country are blessed with abundant water.
+According to the California Energy Commission, surface water
+storage costs between $400 and $800 per acre-foot; while water
+desalination costs between $1,800 and $2,800 per acre-foot; and
+water recycling between $1,200 and $1,800 per acre-foot.
+ In other words, storing water before it is lost to the
+ocean costs a mean of $600, while reclaiming it once it has
+been lost to the ocean costs about $2,300. Water desalination
+is a great idea if you don't mind your water bill quadrupling.
+ We should be looking at the most cost-effective ways to
+produce water abundance, not the most expensive. That is the
+difference between abundance and scarcity, the difference
+between prosperity and rationing, and the difference between
+the policies before us today.
+ I yield back.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. McClintock follows:]
+ Prepared Statement of the Hon. Tom McClintock, Ranking Member,
+ Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife
+ According to the EPA, since 1901, global precipitation has
+increased at an average rate of 0.08 inches per decade, while
+precipitation in the contiguous 48 states has increased at a rate of
+0.17 inches per decade. Globally, annual rainfall alone produces
+roughly 18,000 gallons of fresh water every day for every man, woman
+and child on this planet.
+ The problem is that this abundance of fresh water is unevenly
+distributed over space and time. Throughout the 20th century, it was
+the policy of this government to guarantee abundant water for all the
+people and regions of our country. We built reservoirs to transfer
+water from wet years to dry years and we built canals to transfer water
+from wet regions to dry ones. By doing so, we made the deserts bloom
+and opened up vast tracts of land to support a prosperous population
+made possible by water abundance.
+ Sadly, these policies were reversed over the last 45 years. In my
+region, 4 years of drought, combined with massive pulse flow water
+releases mandated by environmental laws, drained our reservoirs nearly
+to dead-pool levels. The next year, an atmospheric river opened up,
+requiring the loss of massive amounts of water to the ocean because we
+had no place to store it--not for lack of suitable sites, but for lack
+of action in utilizing them.
+ The climate is constantly changing, which requires constant
+adaptation. Up until 5,000 years ago, the Sahara was one of the wetter
+regions of the planet, with frequent monsoons that produced the largest
+freshwater lake in the world. During the Roman Warm Period, much of the
+Roman grain supply was grown in North Africa.
+ The foresight of America's 20th century water engineers should be
+more apparent today. In the Modern Warm Period, water will be stored
+for less time as snow in the mountains, which means that without new
+reservoirs to capture this runoff, it will be lost to the ocean.
+ During the last several Congresses, the House sent major
+legislation to the Senate to expedite and reform the permitting process
+that has made the construction of new reservoirs endlessly time
+consuming and ultimately cost-prohibitive. Unfortunately, the Senate
+failed to act.
+ As one example, the Shasta Dam was built to an elevation of 600
+feet and stores more than 4\1/2\ million acre-feet of water. But it was
+designed to an elevation of 800 feet. The difference is 9 million acre-
+feet of water storage. Yet less than 20 feet of additional elevation--
+about 630,000 acre-feet of additional storage--has been stalled for
+more than 20 years in an endless cycle of environmental studies with no
+end in sight.
+ Droughts are nature's fault. They happen. But water shortages are
+our fault. They are a choice we made when we stopped building adequate
+storage to meet the needs of the next generation.
+ We are told that reservoirs are old-fashioned, and that we must
+look to solutions like conservation, recycling and desalination. We
+need to understand that this actually means.
+ Conservation does not add a drop to our water supply--it merely
+copes with a shortage that our own policies have imposed. And there is
+a limit to how much conservation can be mandated before it begins to
+have a significant negative impact on the quality of life for our
+people. Californians are soon going to get a major lesson in this when
+mandated year-round water rationing signed by Governor Brown takes
+effect in a few years.
+ Recycling and desalination make sense in deserts where water is
+scarce and can't be imported. Fortunately, most regions of our country
+are blessed with abundant water. According to the California Energy
+Commission, surface water storage costs between $400 and $800 per acre
+foot while water desalination costs $1,800 to $2,800 per foot and water
+recycling $1,200 to $1,800 per foot. In other words, storing water
+before it is lost to the ocean costs a mean of $600 while reclaiming it
+once it's been lost to the ocean costs $2,300. Water desalination is a
+great idea if you don't mind your water bill quadrupling.
+ We should be looking at the most cost-effective ways to produce
+water abundance--not the most expensive. That is the difference between
+abundance and scarcity--the difference between prosperity and
+rationing--and the difference between the policies before us.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. McClintock. We will now hear
+from our witnesses.
+ Let me remind the witnesses that under our Committee Rules,
+they must limit their oral statements to 5 minutes. But their
+entire statement will still appear in the hearing record.
+ When you begin, the lights on the witness table will turn
+green. After 4 minutes, you will see the yellow light come on.
+Your time will have expired when the red light comes on, and I
+will ask you to please complete your statement.
+ I will also allow the entire panel to testify before we
+turn to questions from the Members.
+ I will now begin with the witnesses. I see that Mr. Neguse
+is here. Our first witness is from Colorado. We will invite the
+gentleman from Colorado to introduce his home state
+constituent.
+ Mr. Neguse. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for giving me the
+opportunity to do that. And I am so honored and pleased to
+introduce Mr. Bradley H. Udall from my district, the Colorado
+2nd District.
+ Brad currently serves as the Senior Water and Climate
+Research Scientist for Colorado State University's Colorado
+Water Institute. He helped author the Fourth National Climate
+Assessment, and he is an expert, literally in the sense of the
+word, in anything related to western water.
+ I also would be remiss if I didn't point out the weight,
+certainly, that we all feel, and that certainly Brad must be
+feeling, in testifying in this room. If you all look to the
+back of the room, you can see the picture of his father, the
+legendary Mr. Morris Udall.
+ Brad, it is such an honor to have you here today, and I
+certainly know that your father would be very proud, as is the
+state of Colorado. Thank you for taking the time to come
+testify and help us learn about a topic that is extremely
+important to our district, our state, and our country.
+ I yield back, Mr. Chair.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you.
+ It is an honor to have you, Mr. Udall.
+
+ STATEMENT OF BRAD UDALL, SENIOR WATER AND CLIMATE RESEARCH
+SCIENTIST, COLORADO WATER INSTITUTE, COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY,
+ FORT COLLINS, COLORADO
+
+ Mr. Udall. Thank you, Chairman Huffman, Ranking Member
+McClintock, and other members of the panel. Thank you for
+providing me an opportunity to speak. I am a senior scientist
+at Colorado State University, where I study how climate change
+will affect Western U.S. water supplies. Today, I want to focus
+on the Colorado River.
+ After 19 years of unprecedented low flows and over-use in
+the lower basin, the Nation's two largest reservoirs, Lakes
+Mead and Powell, are now barely 40 percent full. Without major
+action by the Colorado River Basin states, there is a
+substantial risk of draining Lake Mead to deadpool in the next
+7 years, an event that would prove to be very challenging.
+ Since 2000, Colorado River flows have been 19 percent below
+the 20th century average. Temperatures in the basin are now 2
+degrees Fahrenheit warmer, and those temperatures are certain
+to continue rising. Scientists have begun using aridification
+to describe the ongoing hot and dry climate in the basin,
+rather than just drought.
+ In 2017, Jonathan Overpeck and I found that higher
+temperatures due to climate change had reduced the flow of the
+Colorado River by approximately 6 percent, and that additional
+warming could reduce flows by approximately 20 percent by 2050,
+and up to 35 percent by 2100, should precipitation remain the
+same.
+ Higher temperatures increase evaporation from soils and
+water bodies, increase sublimation from snowpacks, and increase
+water use by plants, due to a longer growing season and more
+warmth on any given day. Other studies have come to similar
+conclusions.
+ The 2018 National Climate Assessment found that snowpacks
+are being reduced, so melt runoff is occurring earlier in the
+year, and flows in the fall are lower. More of our
+precipitation is occurring as rain, rather than snow.
+ The not-yet-approved Drought Contingency Plan is an
+important first step to solving the basin's problems. It
+significantly reduces the chance of emptying Lake Mead. Most
+critically, the DCP buys us time to implement more permanent
+solutions. However, it leaves many hard decisions for the next
+plan.
+ Negotiations for that replacement plan should begin next
+year. This plan needs to be a climate change plan for the
+basin. The planning process should be open and inclusive. It
+should solve the over-use problem in the lower basin and
+prepare for extended and unprecedented low flows. It should
+also re-visit a number of long-standing assumptions about how
+the river is being managed, including the upper basin's so-
+called delivery obligation, who bears the burden of solving the
+lower basin's over-use, and how the reservoirs are operated.
+ I want to offer a few suggestions for how the Federal
+Government might help ensure water security in the basin.
+Additional ideas are in my written testimony.
+ With climate change, the past is no longer a guide to the
+future. This makes planning very difficult. Scientists need to
+devise new ways to predict future runoff, and find other ways,
+including scenarios to help decision makers grapple with this
+very different future.
+ Agriculture will be at the center of additional water
+shortages in the basin, because of its approximately 70 percent
+of total water use. Deficit irrigation, rotational fallowing,
+crop switching, irrigation efficiency all offer opportunities
+to save water, while keeping Ag. in production. There is much
+that a coordinated effort, between Interior with WaterSMART and
+USDA with its Farm Bill, can do to ensure that the harm to Ag.
+is minimized.
+ The Salton Sea deserves significant Federal resources.
+Without a functioning Salton Sea, the Imperial Irrigation
+District's ability to contribute to a meaningful resolution of
+the lower basin's over-use will be seriously constrained.
+Interior needs to continue to fund our National Streamgage
+Network. Congress should continue to support existing programs
+like NOAA's RISA, Interior's Climate Adaptation Science
+Centers, and the USDA Climate Hubs.
+ Finally, any solution must aim at the root cause of these
+temperature-induced flow reductions. The ultimate goal must be
+net zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as is practical,
+ideally net zero by 2050, but no later than 2070. Greenhouse
+gas reductions must be pursued through a suite of actions,
+including carbon pricing, investments in technology, tax
+credits, and other techniques.
+ In conclusion, climate change is water change, and it is
+already impacting the Colorado River. My father was a member of
+this Committee for over 30 years, and he chaired it for 14.
+This very hearing room is named for him. That generation did
+not shy away from solving the great problems of its day,
+including how to provide reliable water supplies for the
+American Southwest.
+ Similarly, this generation should not shy away from solving
+the great problems of today, which include how do we adapt to
+climate change, and how do we stop it? Climate change threatens
+all we hold dear. This is especially clear when it reduces our
+life-giving water supplies.
+ Climate change is the key threat to 21st century water
+supply reliability. To minimize this threat we must act now by
+adapting to the coming changes with smart water management
+policy, with technology, with science, and also by reducing
+greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as we can.
+ Thank you for your time.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Udall follows:]
+Prepared Statement of Brad Udall,\1\ Senior Water and Climate Research
+ Scientist/Scholar, Colorado Water Institute, Colorado State University
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \1\ In addition to my position at Colorado State University, I am a
+co-investigator with the DOI Southwest Climate Adaptation Science
+Center, and a member of the Colorado River Research Group.
+(www.coloradoriverresearchgroup.org).
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Chairman Huffman, Ranking Member McClintock, and other members of
+the panel, thank you for providing me an opportunity to speak on this
+important issue.
+ I am a senior scientist at Colorado State University where I study
+how climate change will affect western U.S. water supplies. For over 15
+years, I have published and spoken extensively on the impacts of
+climate change on western rivers, and how we might reduce those
+impacts. Today I want to use my time to focus on the Colorado River.
+ 1. the 21st century climate challenge for the colorado river basin
+ Nineteen years of unprecedented drought in the gaged record have
+brought the Colorado River basin to the brink of the first ever major
+water delivery reductions in the Lower Basin. The combined contents of
+the two largest reservoirs in the United States, Lakes Mead and Powell,
+are now barely 40 percent full (Figure 1). Last month the U.S. Bureau
+of Reclamation said that there is a 69 percent chance for the first-
+ever shortage in 2020 and a 21 percent chance that Lake Mead will be
+less than 25 percent full in 2023 \2\ (Figure 2). At this level, the
+reservoir's ability to supply water to Nevada, California, Arizona and
+Mexico is at risk.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \2\ January 2019 Projections from Reclamation's Mid-Term Operations
+Model (MTOM) model here: https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/g4000/riverops/
+crss-5year-projections.html. Note that these projections use the full
+111 years of historical hydrology (1906-2016) which includes the
+pluvial at the beginning of the 20th century. The actual risk using
+some form of `stress test' hydrology without the wet period would be
+substantially higher.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ Figure 1: Combined Contents of Lakes Powell and Mead 2000 to January
+ 31, 2019.
+
+[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+
+ Figure 2: Shortage Probabilities for 2019 to 2023 from
+ Reclamation's January 2019 study.
+
+[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+ .epsSince 2000 flows have been 19 percent below the 20th century
+average (Figure 3). 2018 was the hottest and driest year in the 4-
+Corners region since records were first kept in 1895 (Figure 4).
+Temperatures in the basin are now over 2+ F warmer than the 20th
+century average, and those temperatures are certain to continue rising.
+Because the term drought implies a temporary condition, and this 19-
+year drought has been anything but that, scientists have begun using
+``aridification'' to describe the ongoing hot and dry climate in the
+basin.\3\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \3\ It should be noted that it is possible that the Colorado River
+may see a decade or more of higher flows in the 21st century--our
+enhanced water cycle is now capable of generating very large flows. But
+on balance, the science tells us that over the course of the 21st
+century the greatest risk is for flow reductions and ongoing
+aridification.
+
+ Figure 3: Reservoir Contents, Upper Basin Natural (undepleted) Flows,
+Precipitation, and Temperature for various periods to end of September
+ 2018.
+[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+
+
+Figure 4. 2018 was a record setting hot and dry year in large parts
+ of the American Southwest.
+[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+
+
+ In addition to climate change, overuse has also contributed to
+the problem. Water users in the Lower Basin states consume roughly 10.2
+million acre-feet \4\ (maf) annually, while inflows from upstream
+average 9 maf leaving an imbalance of 1.2 maf/year, or about 7 percent
+of the total flow in the system. This imbalance, known as the
+``Structural Deficit,'' along with the low flows, has helped to drive
+both Lakes Mead and Powell lower (Figures 1 and 5).
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \4\ An acre-foot is 1 foot of water depth over an area of 1 acre or
+about 325,000 gallons. This is enough water for 2 to 4 families per
+year.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ Figure 5. Contents in millions of acre-feet of Lakes Powell and Mead,
+ January 1, 2000 to January 31, 2019.
+
+[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+
+
+ the salience of warming temperatures
+ In 2017, Dr. Jonathan Overpeck \5\ and I published a peer-reviewed
+paper \6\ which said that higher temperatures due to climate change had
+reduced the flow of the Colorado River by approximately 6 percent, and
+that additional warming could reduce flows by approximately 20 percent
+in 2050, and up to 35 percent by 2100, should precipitation remain the
+same.\7\ Higher temperatures increase evaporation from soils and water
+bodies, increase sublimation from snowpacks, and increase water use by
+plants due to a longer growing season and more warmth on any given day.
+A thirstier atmosphere which can now hold more moisture due to higher
+temperatures also contributes to the problem. Given the large 2+ F
+warming in the basin, we called the current period a ``hot drought''
+and the flow losses ``temperature-induced flow reductions'' to
+distinguish them from a more normal ``dry drought'' that causes
+precipitation-related flow reductions.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \5\ Dr. Overpeck is Now Dean of the University of Michigan School
+for Environment and Sustainability. At the time of the paper he was the
+Director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of
+Arizona and the Thomas R. Brown Distinguished Professor of Science.
+ \6\ Udall and Overpeck, 2017, The 21st century Colorado River hot
+drought and implications for the future.
+ \7\ In the paper these numbers all have ranges on them. The range
+of current flow reduction was from 3% to 10%; 6% is roughly the mid-
+point of this range. The range in 2050 was from 8% to nearly 30%, using
+3 different temperature sensitivities and a broad range of future
+emissions. In 2100 the range was from 12% to 55%. In the text above, I
+round to the middle of these ranges.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Last year Dr. Dennis Lettenmaier,\8\ his doctoral student Mu Xiao,
+and I published another peer-reviewed paper \9\ showing that 50 percent
+of the flow reduction from 2000 to 2014 was due to higher temperatures
+and the remaining 50 percent was due to shifting precipitation
+patterns.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \8\ Distinguished Professor of Geography at the University of
+California at Los Angeles.
+ \9\ Xiao, Udall and Lettenmaier, 2018. On the Causes of Declining
+Colorado River Streamflows.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Other recent papers have also found significant impacts of
+temperatures on Colorado River flows \10\ and other western rivers.
+Southwestern U.S. megadroughts--droughts lasting decades-have been
+shown to be much more likely in the 21st century as it warms, even if
+precipitation increases.\11\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \10\ See Dettinger, Udall, & Georgakakos, 2015; McCabe, et al.,
+2017; Overpeck & Udall, 2010; Vano, Das, & Lettenmaier, 2012; Vano et
+al., 2014; Vano & Lettenmaier, 2014; Woodhouse, et al., 2016.
+ \11\ Ault, et al., 2016; Cook, Ault, & Smerdon, 2015.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The 2018 4th National Climate Assessment \12\ found that the
+hydrologic cycle has already been profoundly modified by climate
+change. In the West, snowpacks are being reduced, snowmelt runoff is
+occurring earlier in the year, and flows in the fall are lower. More of
+our precipitation is occurring as rain rather than snow. Previous
+National Assessments in 2009 and 2014 reported similar results. Studies
+also note that past hydrology is no longer a suitable guide to future
+hydrology, a concept sometimes known as the ``Death of Stationarity.''
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \12\ https://nca2018.globalchange.gov.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ It is clear the Colorado River, and the entire Southwest, has
+shifted to a new hotter and drier climate, and, equally important, will
+continue to shift to a hotter and drier climate for several decades
+after we stop emitting greenhouse gasses. Last year humans emitted over
+37 billion tons of CO2, an increase of 2.7 percent over
+2017.\13\ Given these unprecedented changes to our climate and water
+supplies, our 20th century water management systems will need
+fundamental modifications to ensure that humans, our economy, and our
+environment suffer the least harm from likely future reductions in
+water supplies.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \13\ https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/12/05/
+we-are-trouble-global-carbon-emissionsreached-new-record-high/
+?utm_term=.874be32b4d7b.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 3. the drought contingency plan (dcp)
+ The seven Basin states are close to a ``Drought Contingency
+Agreement \14\'' that will implement large proactive reductions in
+deliveries in the basin to protect Lakes Mead and Powell from reaching
+dangerously low volumes. In the Lower Basin, Central Arizona
+agriculture will be especially hit hard along with more manageable
+shortages for Las Vegas and central Arizona municipalities. If flows
+remain low, California agriculture and municipalities in Southern
+California will be impacted in future years.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \14\ The DCP is actually a set of agreements. https://www.usbr.gov/
+dcp/.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The states, the Central Arizona Project, irrigation districts,
+NGOs, Indian tribes and others deserve recognition for the hard work
+needed to agree on very difficult reductions in water use. And
+Reclamation has been within its rights to strongly encourage all of the
+parties to finish these agreements soon.
+ The agreement is an important first step. To be sure, it
+significantly reduces the chance of emptying Lake Mead, an event that
+would prove to be very challenging for the entire Southwest. Most
+critically, the DCP buys us time to implement more permanent solutions.
+And on paper the DCP `solves' the Structural Deficit. It is, however,
+not perfect. It has mechanisms to account for and repay any shortages
+should flows later partially refill reservoirs. These paybacks have the
+potential to put the reservoirs back into precarious territory just
+when they show signs of recovery. Although the agreement has not been
+finalized, I am very optimistic that it will be completed soon.
+ This agreement will only last 7 years. New negotiations will need
+to begin by the end of 2020 to replace the existing 2007 agreement on
+shortage sharing and reservoir operations \15\ which expires in 2026.
+Hard issues left unresolved by the DCP will make the coming
+negotiations even more challenging.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \15\ https://www.usbr.gov/lc/region/programs/strategies/
+RecordofDecision.pdf.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 4. the 2020-2026 negotiations leading to the 2026 agreement
+ In the long term, the Basin states need not just a Drought
+Contingency Plan, but a Climate Change Plan that accounts for likely
+future declines in flows. Should flows continue to drop, as the science
+suggests is likely, additional reductions in consumption will be
+needed. Agreeing on reductions that cause the least harm to water
+users, the overall economy and the environment will be an exceedingly
+difficult task, much harder to come by than those achieved in the DCP.
+To ensure water reliability in the 21st century, planning for major
+flow reductions should be the main charge for those leading the
+negotiations for the new 2026 agreement.
+4.1. An Open, Inclusive EIS Process Needed
+ The negotiations will need a full Environmental Impact Statement
+including the transparency that such a process requires. (With the
+exception of Arizona, the DCP process lacked transparency and
+inclusion.) This process should allow for alternatives supplied by the
+states, tribes, municipalities, academia, NGOs and others. The 2007
+process, for example, incorporated an NGO-sponsored `Conservation
+Before Shortage' alternative that provided some of the ideas
+implemented in the 2007 agreement and later in the DCP. Reclamation
+should support making modeling tools available to interested parties;
+modeling allows for thinking with numbers in much the same fashion that
+writing allows for thinking with words. Without these open access
+tools, some stakeholders will be unable to fully participate in the
+process.
+4.2. Permanent Structural Deficit Solution Needed and Plans for
+ Extended Low Flows
+ A permanent solution to the Structural Deficit should be part of
+the 2026 negotiations. The negotiation also needs to consider how water
+management will respond to potential future unprecedented low flows
+that require reductions in additional to those needed to solve the
+Structural Deficit. The current rules, laws and agreements imply
+solutions that may lead to litigation, may be undesirable and perhaps
+even impractical. Rules, laws and agreements around ``equalization,''
+who bears the burden of solving the Structural Deficit, and the
+agreement around the Upper Basin delivery `obligation' will all need to
+be considered.
+ With each passing year, the existing 2007 reservoir rules reduce
+the possibility of `equalization releases' from Lake Powell to Lake
+Mead. It has been these large (e.g., 3-5 maf in 1 year) releases that
+have allowed the Structural Deficit to persist. The combination of
+future large temperature-induced flow reductions and the likely
+continuation of the existing high bar for equalization means that it is
+very likely that at least 1.2 maf/year of demand will need to be
+permanently removed from the river in the 2026 agreement with
+provisions for additional reductions if needed.
+ Contrary to what the 1968 Colorado River Basin Project Act says,
+the Central Arizona Project (and to a much lesser degree, Nevada)
+should not have to bear the entire burden of solving the Structural
+Deficit. This is because 5m people in Phoenix and 1m people in Tucson
+rely at least to some extent on this surface water. (Tucson has no
+surface water, although it does sit atop a large but not infinite
+supply of groundwater.) This fact has been acknowledged implicitly by
+inclusion of shortages to California in the DCP. It is extremely likely
+that additional shared sacrifice by all Lower Basin entities will be
+needed.
+ Since 1922, the Lower Basin has relied on Section III(d) of the
+Colorado River Compact which appears to obligate the Upper Basin to
+deliver 75 maf every 10 running years as a backstop to future potential
+low flow conditions. That wording of that clause says that the Upper
+Basin shall not cause the flow to decline below 75 maf. However, if
+climate change causes those flow reductions, and if the Upper Basin is
+well under their Compact Section III(a) consumptive use limit as they
+currently are, the Upper Basin has a strong case to make that Section
+III(d) does not apply. Were this to occur, the Upper Basin would have
+been in serious drought for a number of years and its reservoirs would
+likely be empty. In addition, water to meet such a `compact call' would
+come disproportionately from already suffering Upper Basin
+municipalities including Colorado's Front Range, Albuquerque, and Salt
+Lake City. This could lead to lengthy litigation, an outcome that would
+do little to provide either water or an immediate solution. In such a
+situation, the Lower Basin would need to reduce uses well beyond that
+needed to solve the Structural Deficit.
+4.3. The Tension between Water Conservation to Raise Lake Levels and
+ Later Recovery
+ Well-meaning existing efforts (``Intentionally Created Surplus''
+and variants) allowed by the 2007 agreement to prop up Lake Mead with
+unused conserved water may have an implicit flaw, which is that these
+waters are accounted for and are later allowed to be withdrawn from the
+system, potentially at times when the system is more exposed. This year
+Metropolitan Water District announced plans to withdraw its previously
+stored water rather than have it stranded by the existing rules which
+prevent withdrawals at low lake elevations. This is the water
+management equivalent of a bank run, and without a surefire mechanism
+of deposit insurance, such untimely withdrawals may happen in the
+future.
+ To be sure, these efforts were designed to encourage water
+conservation and this has occurred. But there remains a tension between
+encouraging conservation and at the same time allowing the recovery of
+this water later which actually means that no real conservation
+occurred--the storer merely shifted water use in time. These water
+storage efforts allow us to push the problem forward in time, hoping
+that Mother Nature will rescue us. But they can make low flow years
+worse, with storing entities desiring to recover these saved supplies
+during such low years exactly when the reservoirs are bottoming out.
+Unfortunately, there is no clear way to provide the equivalent of
+deposit insurance, which in this case would be a supply of emergency
+water to prop up either the reservoir or the depositor.
+ These rules might make sense in a system where a reasonable
+expectation is that a better future will soon occur. In a declining
+system, however, these rules push difficult decisions to the future
+when those decisions will be even more challenging. It is not clear how
+to solve this problem, but at least shedding light on it may help
+identify solutions.
+4.4. Developing Future Hydrology that accounts for Warming and Non-
+ Stationarity
+ One of the most difficult aspects of water resource management in
+the era of climate change is that the past is no longer a guide to the
+future.\16\ Current floods and droughts are now routinely exceeding the
+envelope of the historic record. This makes planning, including
+probabilistic modeling, very difficult.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \16\ Milly et al., ``Stationarity Is Dead.''
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Current projections for the future of the basin often use the full
+range of historical hydrology from 1906 onward to generate
+probabilities of future delivery reductions. Yet we know these
+probabilities are understated because of a very wet period at the
+beginning of the 20th century that will likely not reoccur. In these
+modeling efforts, the wet years refill reservoirs and bail out the
+system. In recent years Reclamation has investigated using shorter
+periods (``stress test hydrology'') that remove this wet period and use
+only the more recent dry period. It is possible that even these efforts
+understate the future risk. Other work is ongoing to understand the
+increasing influence of temperature on streamflows, including the
+physical mechanisms for the uncoupling of runoff from precipitation.
+Much more work needs to be done.
+ Reclamation has also been experimenting with future hydrology
+scenarios that step back from probabilities. These scenario-based
+efforts attempt to provide plausible futures for decision makers
+without explicit, overly precise and misleading probabilities.
+Additional work is needed in this area and Reclamation needs to be
+given the resources to pursue all of this work. This is a national
+problem as well.
+ 5. other actions and considerations
+5.1. Agricultural Solutions
+ Agriculture will be at the center of additional water shortages in
+the basin because of its approximately 70 percent of total water use.
+The Drought Contingency Plan provides money and a plan to replace
+Colorado River water with groundwater to partially mitigate harm to
+Arizona irrigators. With potential cuts to locations outside of central
+Arizona and in California, groundwater is unlikely to be available as a
+replacement source.
+ In 2017 Greg Peterson and I published a study \17\ on how
+agriculture might adapt to lower flows. We looked at deficit irrigation
+of alfalfa, rotational fallowing, crop switching, irrigation efficiency
+\18\ and water conservation. All of these water saving techniques offer
+the promise of at least some water savings, although each also has
+distinct costs. Perhaps the most promising of these techniques is
+switching to less water intensive crops, although it is also the least
+known and least tried. Crop switching requires growers to change labor,
+equipment, markets, transportation, storage and more. For crop
+switching to work, growers will need assistance and assurance that
+these new products will be financially viable.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \17\ http://www.cwi.colostate.edu/media/publications/cr/232.pdf.
+ \18\ Improperly done, irrigation efficiency measures can
+paradoxically increase water consumption. Properly done, irrigation
+efficiency can provide needed flexibility and save water. See (Grafton
+et al., 2018; Ward & Pulido-Velazquez, 2008).
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ There is much the Federal Government can do to assist with such a
+transformation. The U.S. government should help facilitate all of these
+techniques through programs at Reclamation such as WaterSMART,\19\ and
+through the Farm Bill. The Department of the Interior and the U.S.
+Department of Agriculture need to ensure that inter-departmental
+coordination occurs so that programs can be integrated as much as
+possible. Given that agriculture will bear much of the brunt of coming
+reductions, it is imperative that USDA be as active as possible in
+mitigating the impacts to agricultural users. In addition, Reclamation
+should consider a broad study to see where its large backlog of
+infrastructure needs might overlap with opportunities to pursue
+irrigation efficiency and water conservation.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \19\ https://www.usbr.gov/watersmart/.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+5.2. The Salton Sea
+ The Salton Sea stands out as an area of special concern--2017
+marked the last year of extra flows into the sea to mitigate transfers
+to San Diego. It has now begun to decline rapidly, falling 1.7 feet in
+the past 2 years, threatening both a critical ecological resource and
+human health in the Imperial and Coachella Valleys. Impacts are already
+being noted.\20\ There are a number of reasonably simple actions that
+could be taken to resolve problems, and also importantly, to allow
+future Colorado River problems to be solved. Without a functioning
+Salton Sea, the Imperial Irrigation District's ability to contribute to
+a meaningful resolution of the existing Structural Deficit, and
+additional demand reduction if necessary, will be seriously
+constrained.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \20\ https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/02/08/salton-sea-
+california-fish-bird-die-off-winter/2818025002/.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Plans exist to minimize the developing impacts at the sea; what has
+been missing is resources to implement these ideas. The USGS Salton Sea
+Science Office needs a full-time director based near the sea.
+Reclamation could support hydrologic studies, engineering review and
+general construction management for Salton Sea habitat projects. The
+U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Salton Sea Wildlife Refuge should be fully
+staffed and funded, including money for the Red Hill Bay project.
+ Despite its size and apparent last minute nature, the Imperial
+Irrigation District's recent $200m request is reasonable. There is a
+need for long-term funding for Salton Sea monitoring and O&M which is
+largely unmet by California's bond funding.
+5.3. New Diversions in the Basin
+ Despite the ongoing aridification and warning signs that the river
+is overallocated and overused, additional diversions are still being
+planned in the Basin. Given all that we know, these plans should be
+delayed or if built only allowed to divert when the harm to existing
+users will be very low, such as when Lakes Powell and Mead are full or
+nearly full. With serious shortages already possible, the last thing
+this basin should consider is additional diversions.
+5.4. The Federal Role in Policy
+ The Federal Government through Reclamation has long played an
+important role in the basin. Historically, that role has been primarily
+to build and run the massive infrastructure. In recent years,
+Reclamation has provided important scientific support to the Basin
+states in their negotiation of new water agreements. The agency has
+played a critical convening and process role, while letting the states
+lead on policy, as is appropriate given state ownership of most water
+rights. However, when the states fail to lead, Reclamation has rightly
+threatened, scared and cajoled the states back to their proper role.
+This is as it should be and Reclamation should continue to provide
+scientific support, management and the appropriate leadership on new
+water agreements including a willingness to impose solutions if the
+states are unable or unwilling to make the difficult choices required.
+5.5. Science and Data Collection
+ Interior through the USGS and its partners needs to continue to
+fund our national stream gage network, and expand that network where
+scientists and decision makers agree that additional gaging is
+necessary. To use a navigation analogy, climate change puts us in
+uncharted territory. With less than complete ``maps'' of our climate
+future, we need to make sure that our instruments are working and
+providing the very best information on our location.
+ Congress should continue to support existing programs like the
+NOAA-funded Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessment (RISA)
+programs, the Department of Interior Climate Adaptation Science Centers
+(CASC), Reclamation's water science efforts and the USDA Climate
+Hubs,\21\ all of which serve to connect scientists with decision makers
+so that useful science can be created and understood. These programs
+have a known track record of knowledge coproduction, which includes the
+breaking down of barriers between scientists and decision makers. The
+RISA and CASC programs have been especially good at assessing the state
+of science for stakeholders. The Climate Hubs are much newer, show
+great promise with helping agriculture adapt to climate change, but
+need more resources. Reclamation's scientist-engineers are very
+talented and deserve recognition and support for moving emerging
+science into useful engineering.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \21\ I have served as the Director of the Western Water Assessment
+RISA, am a co-investigator for the Southwest Climate Adaptation Science
+Center and serve as one of Colorado State University's liaisons to the
+Northern Plains Climate Hub.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Note that these actions will have widespread national benefits
+beyond the Colorado River.
+5.6. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Efforts
+ Finally, any solution set must aim at the root cause of the
+temperature-induced flow reductions. Climate change is as serious a
+problem as humans have ever faced and thus requires not one, but a vast
+set of solutions. The ultimate goal must be net zero greenhouse gas
+emissions as soon as is practical, ideally with net zero reductions by
+2050 but no later than by 2070.\22\ This is achievable but will take
+great leadership. To the extent we fail to do this, we will impose
+great costs on ourselves, our youth, and especially on future
+generations. Greenhouse gas reductions must be pursued through a suite
+of actions including carbon pricing, investments in technology, tax
+credits, and even thru Climate Smart Agriculture \23\ which aims to
+increase farm yields while sequestering carbon in soil.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \22\ These are the recommendations from the recent IPPC 1.5 Degree
+Special Report.
+ \23\ Colorado State University has a new Climate Smart Agriculture
+initiative and works with the USDA Climate Hubs. Climate Smart
+Agriculture was initially conceived by the Food and Agriculture
+Organization in 2013. See Lipper et al, 2014.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ 6. conclusions
+ Scientists have attributed changes in the global water cycle to
+human caused climate change including enhanced precipitation in
+hurricanes like Harvey which dropped 50+ inches of rain in 4 days,\24\
+record-setting droughts like the one in California from 2012 to
+2017,\25\ and recent flow declines in the Rio Grande.\26\ Climate
+change is also clearly impacting river flows in the Colorado River,
+too. Simply put, climate change is water change.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \24\ Risser & Wehner, 2017; Trenberth, et al., 2018.
+ \25\ Diffenbaugh, Swain, & Touma, 2015.
+ \26\ Chavarria & Gutzler, 2018.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ My father was a member of this Committee for over 30 years and
+chaired it for 14 years. This very hearing room is named for him, and
+his portrait overlooks us all. His generation, the greatest generation,
+revered science and the knowledge it provided that allowed us to build
+the amazing water supply infrastructure that now exists on the Colorado
+River.
+ That generation did not shy from solving the great problems of its
+day, including how to provide reliable water supplies for the American
+Southwest and how to clean up our environment. My best guess is that in
+this very room the ground breaking 1968 Colorado River Basin Project
+Act was passed out of Committee.
+ Similarly, this generation should not shy away from solving the
+great problems of today, which include how do we adapt to climate
+change and how do we stop it. The science on climate change is now 200
+years old, and is very, very clear. When major oil companies accept the
+science \27\ and say we must act, as they have,\28\ the debate should
+be over. It is over in every other major country.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \27\ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/oil-giant-accepts-
+climate-consensus-denies-responsibility-forwarming/.
+ \28\ https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/Energy-and-environment/
+Environmental-protection/Climate-change; http://reports.shell.com/
+sustainability-report/2015/energy-transition/addressing-climate-
+change.html.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Climate change threatens all we hold dear--our economic well-being,
+our culture, our way of life, our environment, our kids and future
+generations. This is especially clear when it reduces our life-giving
+water supplies as it is now doing in the Colorado River Basin. Climate
+change is the key threat to 21st century water supply reliability.
+ To minimize this threat, we must act now by adapting to the coming
+changes with smart water management and policy, with technology, with
+science and also by reducing greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as we
+can.
+ Thank you for your time.
+ references
+
+Ault, T.R., et al. (2016). Relative impacts of mitigation, temperature,
+and precipitation on 21st-century megadrought risk in the American
+Southwest. Science Advances, 2(10), e1600873. https://doi.org/10.1126/
+sciadv.1600873.
+
+Chavarria, S.B. & Gutzler, D.S. (2018). Observed Changes in Climate and
+Streamflow in the Upper Rio Grande Basin. JAWRA Journal of the American
+Water Resources Association, 54(3), 644-659. https://doi.org/10.1111/
+1752-1688.12640.
+
+Cook, B.I., Ault, T.R., & Smerdon, J.E. (2015). Unprecedented 21st
+century drought risk in the American Southwest and Central Plains.
+Science Advances, 1(1), e1400082. https://doi.org/10.1126/
+sciadv.1400082.
+
+Dettinger, M., Udall, B., & Georgakakos, A. (2015). Western water and
+climate change. Ecological Applications, 25(8), 2069-2093.
+
+Diffenbaugh, N.S., Swain, D.L., & Touma, D. (2015). Anthropogenic
+warming has increased drought risk in California. Proceedings of the
+National Academy of Sciences, 112(13), 3931-3936. https://doi.org/
+10.1073/pnas.1422385112.
+
+Grafton, R.Q., et al. (2018). The paradox of irrigation efficiency.
+Science, 361(6404), 748-750. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat9314.
+
+McCabe, G.J., et al. (2017). Evidence that Recent Warming is Reducing
+Upper Colorado River Flows. Earth Interactions, 21(10), 1-14. https://
+doi.org/10.1175/EI-D-17-0007.1.
+
+Overpeck, J. & Udall, B. (2010). Dry times ahead. Science, 328(5986),
+1642-1643.
+
+Risser, M.D. & Wehner, M.F. (2017). Attributable Human-Induced Changes
+in the Likelihood and Magnitude of the Observed Extreme Precipitation
+during Hurricane Harvey: Changes in Extreme Precipitation in TX.
+Geophysical Research Letters, 44(24), 12,457-12,464. https://doi.org/
+10.1002/2017GL075888.
+
+Trenberth, K.E., et al. (2018). Hurricane Harvey Links to Ocean Heat
+Content and Climate Change Adaptation. Earth's Future, 6(5), 730-744.
+https://doi.org/10.1029/2018EF000825.
+
+Vano, J.A., Das, T., & Lettenmaier, D.P. (2012). Hydrologic
+Sensitivities of Colorado River Runoff to Changes in Precipitation and
+Temperature*. Journal of Hydrometeorology, 13(3), 932-949. https://
+doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-11-069.1.
+
+Vano, J.A. & Lettenmaier, D.P. (2014). A sensitivity-based approach to
+evaluating future changes in Colorado River discharge. Climatic Change,
+122(4), 621-634. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-1023-x.
+
+Vano, J.A., et al. (2014). Understanding Uncertainties in Future
+Colorado River streamflow. Bulletin of the American Meteorological
+Society, 95(1), 59-78.
+
+Ward, F.A. & Pulido-Velazquez, M. (2008). Water conservation in
+irrigation can increase water use. Proceedings of the National Academy
+of Sciences, 105(47), 18215-18220.
+
+Woodhouse, C.A., et al. (2016). Increasing influence of air temperature
+on upper Colorado River streamflow. Geophysical Research Letters,
+2015GL067613. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GL067613.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Udall. The next witness is Mr.
+Jonathan Nelson from the Community Water Center, a non-profit
+environmental justice organization based in California's San
+Joaquin Valley. The Community Water Center works to ensure that
+all communities have access to safe, clean, and affordable
+drinking water. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Nelson to testify.
+ Welcome, sir.
+
+STATEMENT OF JONATHAN NELSON, POLICY DIRECTOR, COMMUNITY WATER
+ CENTER, VISALIA, CALIFORNIA
+
+ Mr. Nelson. Thank you, Chairman Huffman, Ranking Member
+McClintock, and members of the Subcommittee. My name is
+Jonathan Nelson. I am the policy director of the Community
+Water Center, or CWC, an environmental justice organization
+that works in the southern San Joaquin Valley and central coast
+of California, whose vision is to ensure that all communities
+in California and in America can have access to safe, clean,
+and affordable water, through organizing education and
+advocacy.
+ CWC also works as part of national coalitions to address
+issues related to safe and affordable drinking water supply
+across America.
+ At CWC, we believe that access to safe drinking water is a
+basic human right. Yet, each year, millions of Americans are
+impacted by unsafe water supply, including more than 1 million
+in California. The data shows toxic drinking water
+disproportionately impacts low-income communities of color.
+Access to safe drinking water supply is a public health crisis,
+and it is happening under our watch.
+ With this as quick background, I would like to offer two
+points at the intersection of climate change and water supply.
+ First, climate change is already hurting access to safe
+water supply in our communities. Climate science is clear that
+droughts have the potential to become more frequent, longer,
+and more severe. We saw that during the recent historic drought
+in California, where over 10,000 Californians were impacted by
+loss of water supply.
+ Communities like East Porterville, which had already faced
+inequitable development and contaminated water, went dry as
+farmers increasingly tapped into groundwater at unsustainable
+rates, resulting in a reality where low-income communities
+simply could not afford to chase the falling groundwater table.
+It was a human catastrophe. Just imagine going home at the end
+of today and not having water in your house, and having to have
+your family rely on portable community showers and tanked
+water.
+ What is worse, Stanford has documented the negative
+relationship between stressed water supply and water quality.
+The take-away is that climate change and more severe droughts
+are the new normal, and we cannot look at issues of water
+supply and water quality in isolation; they are fundamentally
+connected.
+ The second point I would like to offer is to take proactive
+action now to protect water supply for our most vulnerable
+communities before the next water shortage crisis hits. CWC has
+worked with others in California to recently pass proactive
+drought preparedness legislation that would require more
+advance drought emergency planning, and that also requires the
+state of California to proactively identify communities that
+may be at risk of future water supply shortage in the event of
+a drought.
+ CWC is also working to implement legislation that requires
+better stewarding of our precious groundwater resources, to
+make sure that they last for future generations.
+ Finally, as already has been pointed out, we need far
+greater levels of Federal investment, which has shrunk
+dramatically in recent decades. These are just some of the
+actions that we can take to avoid another climate-caused water
+catastrophe, and we would like to work with this Congress in
+taking action before it is too late.
+ To close, we believe that access to safe and affordable
+drinking water is a basic human right. Yet, millions are
+impacted by toxic water each year. This is not an abstract
+issue, if you live in one of these impacted communities, and it
+is only going to get worse as we move forward into a new normal
+of climate change. Climate change is going to only accelerate
+the challenges, but we can take action now to protect our
+communities. So, we urge Congress to act. Thank you.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Nelson follows:]
+
+Prepared Statement of Jonathan Nelson, Policy Director, Community Water
+ Center, Visalia, California
+
+ introduction and background on community water center
+
+ Chairman Huffman, Ranking Member McClintock, and members of the
+Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to present testimony as
+part of this informational hearing.
+ My name is Jonathan Nelson and I am the Policy Director of the
+Community Water Center. I am here today to share with you information
+and our perspective on the challenges and solutions regarding access to
+safe drinking water supply in California, and particularly in
+California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast regions.
+
+ As background, the Community Water Center is an Environmental
+Justice non-profit founded in 2006 and headquartered in Visalia,
+California, in the Southern San Joaquin Valley. The vision of the
+Community Water Center, or CWC, is to ensure all communities have
+access to safe, clean, and affordable water. CWC works as a catalyst
+for community-driven water solutions through organizing, education, and
+advocacy in California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast. We build
+grassroot capacity to address water challenges in small, rural, low-
+income communities and communities of color, and also engage on
+statewide drinking water policy. CWC also works as part of national
+coalitions to address issues related to safe and affordable drinking
+water across the country.
+
+ In our view, those directly impacted by water contamination must
+lead in creating and advocating for solutions. At CWC, we strive to
+reduce barriers that prevent impacted residents from participating
+effectively in decision making, and we firmly believe that in order to
+solve California's drinking water crisis, all stakeholders must have a
+seat at the table.
+
+ background on our drinking water crisis
+
+ At CWC, we believe that access to safe drinking water is a basic
+human right, not a privilege. Yet each year millions of people across
+the country depend on drinking water systems that serve unsafe water
+\1\ and in California alone more than 1 million Californians are
+exposed to unsafe drinking water from the taps in their homes, schools,
+and communities.\2\ Although water problems exist statewide in
+California, they disproportionately impact low income communities and
+communities of color.\3\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \1\ Maura Allaire et al., National trends in drinking water quality
+violations, 115 Proc. Nat'l Acad. of Sci., U.S. 2078, 2078 (2018),
+https://perma.cc/Y9FU-SC7C (``[I]n 2015, nearly 21 million people
+relied on community water systems that violated health-based quality
+standards.'') (this number only includes those who rely on water
+systems and not on private domestic wells).
+ \2\ https://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2019/feb/14/
+gavin-newsom/true-more-million-californians-dont-have-clean-dri/.
+ \3\ http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/communitywatercenter/
+pages/52/attachments/original/1394398105/
+Balazsetal_Arsenic.pdf?1394398105.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ California's San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast, where we
+organize in, is particularly impacted. The San Joaquin Valley alone
+hosts some of the most contaminated water basins in the nation,\4\ yet
+nearly 95 percent of San Joaquin Valley residents rely on groundwater
+for their domestic needs.\5\ This results in the San Joaquin Valley
+having the highest rates of drinking water contamination and the
+greatest number of public water systems with Maximum Contaminant Level
+(MCL) violations in the state.\6\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \4\ Exceedance/Compliance Status of Public Water Systems, Cal.
+Water Bd., https://perma.cc/CF55-6XYW (last visited October 13, 2018, 2
+PM),; Eli Moore et al., The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated
+Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley 11 (2011), https://perma.cc/
+67GX-3ASC.
+ \5\ Carolina Balazs et al., Social Disparities in Nitrate-
+Contaminated Drinking Water in California's San Joaquin Valley, 119
+Envtl. Health Persp. 1272, 1273 (2011), https://perma.cc/JX8V-DHXC.
+ \6\ http://waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/hr2w/
+index.shtml.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ In addition to the acute health risks associated with the Central
+Valley's and Central Coast's water contamination, communities face the
+disproportionate economic burden that stems from a lack of basic urban
+water infrastructure. Residents are often forced to pay twice for
+water, having to purchase bottled water to supplement the unsafe tap
+water delivered to their homes. These drinking water costs alone can
+amount to as much as 10 percent of a household's income.\7\ In other
+words, those most affected by the lack of safe water are also those
+least able to afford the extra cost of alternative water sources.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \7\ http://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/communitywatercenter/
+pages/52/attachments/original/1394397950/assessing-water-
+affordability.pdf?1394397950.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Droughts and other water supply stressers only exacerbate the
+challenge. California has recently emerged from the most severe drought
+in the state's recorded history. Thousands of wells went dry, which
+forced communities and residents to turn on old, contaminated back-up
+wells or rely on emergency drinking water supplies like trucked water
+or bottled water. For a long time, many residents were filling buckets
+from their neighbors' water hoses in order to have enough water for
+basic sanitation. And we still have communities and private well owners
+whose wells remain dry years later.
+ Finally, the communities most impacted by unsafe drinking water
+were for decades continuously and deliberately excluded from full
+participation in their local water decision-making governance. And
+still today there are challenges in ensuring adequate participation by
+local communities in water governance.
+ We know through experience that if you give communities a seat at
+the table, and empower them with the information they need, that they
+can meaningfully participate in the decision-making process--and that
+the solutions that result will better reflect the needs of communities.
+ solutions to secure safe drinking water supply for vulnerable
+ communities in the face of climate change
+ I would like to spend the remainder of my remarks today outlining a
+few areas of need at the intersection of climate change and access to
+safe drinking water supply.
+
+The first point is acknowledging that climate change is already having
+a direct impact on access to safe drinking water supply for vulnerable
+communities.
+
+ The California community of East Porterville was severely and
+disproportionately impacted during the 2011-2017 drought. East
+Porterville is an unincorporated community of around 7,000 people in
+Tulare County, California. Up until recently, due to inequitable
+development patterns, nearly all East Porterville residents were served
+by private domestic wells. As many as 300 wells were reported dry over
+the drought years of 2014 and 2015. What is worse, many wells in the
+area had tested positive for nitrates, a dangerous contaminant. As
+surface water deliveries diminished, farmers increasingly tapped into
+groundwater at unsustainable rates. This resulted in plummeting
+groundwater levels, causing land subsidence and a reality where low-
+income communities could not afford to keep drilling to chase the
+falling groundwater table--causing domestic and shallow municipal wells
+to go dry.
+ In response, CWC worked collaboratively with both local and state
+government to address what had become a grave public health crisis. The
+solution involved both interim and long-term drinking water solutions.
+The interim measures included emergency bottled water, water tanks, and
+portable showers--however these band-aid measures came at great
+financial cost to the state of California, an estimated $633,500 per
+month just for East Porterville--that's $7.6 million per year.\8\ The
+long-term solution involved a consolidation for residents on domestic
+wells into the city of Porterville's water system. CWC conducted large-
+scale community outreach to ensure residents understood their options
+and what to expect if they chose to connect to the city of
+Porterville's water system. Since then, more than 700 East Porterville
+homes have been connected to the city of Porterville's public water
+system and now have a source of safe and reliable water for years to
+come.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \8\ https://water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/What-We-Do/
+Emergency-Management/Files/East-Porterville/East-
+Porterville_Feasibility-Study_Public-Draft_Rev_060316-1.pdf--pg. 35.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Unfortunately East Porterville was not an isolated incident. In
+2014, USDA granted more than $4 million in emergency funding to 11
+public water districts in Tulare County alone to address water supply
+shortfalls.\9\ Over 10,000 Californians suffered inadequate access to
+water supply during the drought.\10\ Most of these Californians resided
+in low-income communities of color that at worst had experienced
+historic discrimination and at best insufficient levels of funding
+investment. Climate change science tells us there will be more East
+Porterville type emergencies in the future, as droughts become more
+frequent, longer, and more severe. It is not a question of if the next
+drought strikes, but when.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \9\ https://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/story/news/local/2014/07/28/
+tulare-county-gets-million-drought-help/13266557/.
+ \10\ State of California Household Water Supply Shortage Reporting
+System.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ The East Porterville story also illustrates what real solutions
+look like--in this case, funding to support consolidation of households
+to a nearby water agency that still had access to water, coordination
+between multiple levels of government, engagement with community-based
+organizations. These solutions will continue to be needed as we grapple
+with a new normal at the intersection of climate change, drought, and
+our most vulnerable communities.
+ Finally, it is worth noting the relationship between water supply
+and water quality, which is often not talked about. We repeatedly found
+increased challenges with water quality in California's Central Valley
+due to the drought and the resulting (even more) stressed water supply
+as the composition of the aquifers changed. 6Stanford University has
+recently released a study \11\ documenting the negative relationship
+between stressed water supply and water quality in the aquifers. The
+takeaway is we cannot look at issues of water supply and water quality
+in isolation--they are fundamentally connected.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \11\ https://news.stanford.edu/press-releases/2018/06/05/
+overpumping-groundwater-increases-contamination-risk/.
+
+The second point is around proactively building resilient drinking
+water institutions, particularly in our most vulnerable and
+disadvantaged communities, in order to secure a safe and affordable
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+water supply in the face of climate change.
+
+ What do we mean by building resilient drinking water institutions?
+To us, resilient drinking water institutions are those that have the
+capacity to provide safe drinking water both now and for the long term,
+in the face of complex challenges such as resulting from water
+contamination, over-depletion of groundwater sources, and stressors
+like population growth--and perhaps most critically, climate change.
+ There are a number of actions we are pursuing in California to
+better prepare for when the next drought hits, so that we never again
+subject so many to such horrific conditions. In addition to responding
+to the real-time impacts of climate change and drought emergencies, CWC
+has worked over the last few years to pass proactive drought
+preparedness legislation. For example, CWC worked collaboratively with
+numerous other organizations to put forward legislation in 2017,
+California Assembly Bill 1668, that would require certain planning
+measures to be taken before a drought hits so that we can build more
+resiliency ahead of time for our most vulnerable communities.
+Importantly, the legislation would (1) require the state of California
+to work with the appropriate water and government stakeholders to
+develop recommended guidelines for drought and water shortage
+contingency planning/emergency response, and (2) proactively identify
+communities that may be at risk of water shortage in a future drought.
+This is just one example of policies we are pursuing in California to
+build resiliency for our most vulnerable communities in response to a
+future of increased climate change and drought.
+ Another important effort in California to prepare for a future of
+climate change and increased drought is to better steward our precious
+groundwater sources. In 2014 California passed legislation, the
+Sustainable Groundwater Management Act or SGMA, to address a reality of
+over-pumping of groundwater aquifers that directly contributed to so
+many vulnerable Californians losing access to water during the drought.
+SGMA requires the creation of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies and
+Plans in order to achieve sustainability of groundwater use while
+protecting the needs of communities and drinking water. SGMA is still
+in the early stages of implementation and we have serious concerns that
+the interests of small communities are being overshadowed or even
+ignored by larger, more powerful interests. That said, SGMA does at
+least offer a pathway toward greater sustainability of how groundwater
+is used--so that it can be preserved and stewarded for the generations
+to come.
+ Most importantly it must be noted that lasting change must start
+within the community and has to be sustained by the community. We must
+ensure that both funding processes and planning processes allow for
+meaningful community engagement, not just a rubber stamp, so that
+solutions can best reflect their needs.
+ Finally, we need to acknowledge that we need far greater levels of
+Federal investment. A recent California State Water Board report found
+that ``the percentage of federal support in the total public spending
+on infrastructure for water utilities has fallen from over 30% in the
+1970s to less than 5 percent in 2015.'' \12\ Congress must invest more
+into ensuring access to a safe and affordable drinking water supply if
+we are ever to secure every American's basic human right to water in
+our country.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \12\ https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/water_issues/programs/
+conservation_portal/assistance/docs/2019/draft_report_ab401.pdf.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ conclusion
+ To reiterate, we believe that access to safe, clean and affordable
+drinking water is a basic human right. Securing this basic human right
+for everyone in the United States is within reach if we muster the
+political will and back it with the necessary funding investments. The
+need is more urgent than ever in the face of climate change, which is
+accelerating the set of challenges to ensuring universal access to a
+safe and affordable water supply. We urge Congress to act.
+ Thank you again for the opportunity to present as part of this
+hearing, and please do not hesitate to reach out if we can be a further
+resource or of assistance.
+
+ Thank you.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Nelson. Next we will recognize
+Mr. Tony Willardson, who serves as the Executive Director of
+the Western States Water Council. The Council is appointed by
+the 18 Republican and Democratic governors of the western
+states to work on water policy issues.
+ Thank you for being here, Mr. Willardson. The Chair now
+recognizes you for 5 minutes.
+
+ STATEMENT OF TONY WILLARDSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WESTERN
+ STATES WATER COUNCIL, MURRAY, UTAH
+
+ Mr. Willardson. Thank you, Chairman Huffman and Ranking
+Member McClintock, and other members of the Subcommittee. We
+appreciate the opportunity to testify on positions that the
+Council has adopted. I would point out that we are a government
+entity. We are an instrumentality of each and every
+participating state, which includes the 17 reclamation states
+and Alaska.
+ A secure water future is increasingly uncertain, due to a
+number of factors. This includes limited data regarding water
+supply, as well as demands in existing uses; unpredictable
+climate extremes, such as drought; aging and often inadequate
+infrastructure; competing and poorly defined water rights;
+changing values and regulatory requirements; and integrated
+collaborative and grass roots approaches needed to water
+resources management. And this is going to require stronger
+cooperation that transcends geographical boundaries between
+states, Federal agencies, tribes, and local communities.
+ Emphasizing, obviously, from our state perspective, the
+states have a primary responsibility for water resources
+management. But also we strive to cooperate with national,
+regional, local, and tribal entities with their
+responsibilities and seek cooperation, rather than conflict and
+litigation.
+ Water data is an area where we need to place a high
+priority. There are many vital water data programs, but in
+2007, the National Science and Technology Council simply stated
+that quantitative knowledge of U.S. water supply is currently
+inadequate. That remains the case.
+ Here, this Committee has jurisdiction over the USGS and
+their Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, over the
+National Water-Quality Assessment and water use data, as well
+as land imaging and thermal infrared imaging with Landsat. And
+I mentioned the Bureau of Reclamation's Agrimet weather station
+network, as well.
+ We need to invest more in the water data that is critical
+for decision making. The Council supports state and Federal
+applied research and hydroclimate data collection programs that
+assist water agencies at all levels of government to adapt to
+climate variability, and make sound scientific decisions.
+Future decision making will depend on our ability to
+understand, monitor, predict, and adapt to climate variability.
+It has serious consequences, as has been described.
+ The Council also supports Reclamation's drought response
+program, as well as other Federal programs, including the
+National Integrated Drought Information System. I co-chair the
+executive council for NIDIS. It is a recurring threat, and NOAA
+estimates between 2015 and 2017, it cost this country $11
+billion. We need to improve our ability to observe, understand,
+model, predict, and adapt to variability.
+ And the Bureau of Reclamation has a rule here, as well, and
+particularly given their interest in forecasts as part of
+reservoir operations. Seasonal to sub-seasonal forecasting is
+an area where we need a better understanding of hydro-climatic
+processes, dynamical earth system modeling, and probabilistic
+outlooks of climate extremes. We need to improve our western
+observing systems as it relates to extreme events.
+ The Council also supports integrated energy and water
+program and project planning. We enjoy diverse and abundant
+energy resources in the West that include renewable and non-
+renewable. We need to maintain adequate and sustainable
+supplies of clean water and energy, which are inter-related
+challenges.
+ And I would also mention the Council supports hydropower
+development, a reasonable development that includes protecting
+our environmental resources, consistent with the state's
+authority under the Clean Water Act section 401. Hydropower is
+a vital part of our energy portfolio.
+ I had mentioned briefly infrastructure and the challenges
+that we face there with the aging infrastructure. Many have
+exceeded their design life. Inadequate and untimely funding is
+increasing those costs. The Council particularly supports
+funding for rural water projects, many of which have been
+unfunded, as well as for tribal water projects.
+ And I would conclude by mentioning the importance to us of
+using the Reclamation Fund, which was created by Congress in
+1902 with revenues and receipts from water and power sales,
+from Federal land sales, from mineral leasing and oil and gas
+revenues to fund these kinds of projects. Currently, the
+unobligated balance is nearly $16 billion, and that money has
+been spent for other Federal purposes, contrary to the original
+intent of Congress.
+ Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Willardson follows:]
+ Prepared Statement of Tony Willardson, Executive Director, Western
+ States Water Council
+ introduction/vision statement
+ Chairman Huffman, Ranking Member McClintock and members of the
+Subcommittee: My name is Tony Willardson and I am the Executive
+Director of the Western States Water Council (WSWC). The Council is a
+bi-partisan government entity created by western governors in 1965 as a
+policy advisory body representing 18 western states. Our members are
+appointed by their governors, and we have a small staff located in Salt
+Lake City, Utah.
+ My testimony is based on our existing policy position statements
+covering many water issues that fall under the jurisdiction of the
+Subcommittee and Committee. All our policy positions are available
+online at www.westernstateswater.org/policies-2/.
+ Water is an increasingly scarce and precious resource and should be
+a public policy priority. In the West, water is critically important to
+our public health, economy, food security, environment, and western way
+of life. We must cultivate a water conservation ethic through greater
+understanding of, and appreciation for, water's value.
+ Population growth, competing economic and ecological demands, and
+changing social values have stressed surface and groundwater supplies
+in many areas. As a result, the number and complexity of conflicts
+among users and uses is increasing. A secure water future is becoming
+increasingly uncertain. Numerous factors contribute to the uncertainty,
+including our unpredictable climate, aging and often inadequate
+infrastructure, data limitations regarding water supplies and demands,
+competing or poorly defined water rights, and a constantly evolving
+regulatory landscape.
+ An integrated, collaborative, and grassroots approach to water
+resources management is essential to ensure an adequate, secure and
+sustainable supply of water of suitable quality to meet our diverse
+economic and environmental needs now and in the future. This will
+require stronger collaboration and cooperation that transcends
+political and geographic boundaries between states, Federal agencies,
+tribes, and local communities. We should work together to identify
+water problems and develop optimal solutions at the lowest appropriate
+level of government. Striving for cooperation rather than conflict and
+litigation, we must recognize and respect national, state, regional,
+local and tribal differences in values related to water resources.
+ The States' primary stewardship over water resources is fundamental
+to a sustainable water future. Federal water planning, policy
+development, regulation, protection, and management must recognize,
+defer to, and support state water laws, plans, policies, and programs,
+as well as state water rights administration, adjudication and
+regulation, compacts and settlements. Rather than attempt to dictate
+water policy, the Federal Government should engage states early in
+meaningful consultation--avoiding, or at least minimizing, the need for
+Federal regulatory mandates. Further, the Federal Government should
+contribute its fair share of funding in support of Federal obligations
+and objectives that may be implemented as part of state water planning,
+management, and protection programs and projects.
+ A secure and sustainable water future will be determined by our
+ability to maintain, replace, expand and make the most efficient use of
+critical water infrastructure. We must preserve and improve existing
+infrastructure, as well as encourage and support innovative water
+supply strategies and new storage options to better balance supplies
+with demands.
+ All levels of government must prioritize the collection, analysis
+and open sharing of reliable data regarding water availability,
+quality, and usage given its importance to research for sound science
+and data driven decision making.
+ water data
+ The Western States Water Council urges the Congress and the
+Administration to give a high priority to the allocation and
+appropriation of sufficient funds for vital water data programs, which
+benefit so many, yet have been, or are being allowed to erode to the
+point that it threatens the quantity and quality of basic water data
+provided to a myriad, growing and diffuse number of decision makers and
+stakeholders, with significantly adverse consequences. (WSWC Position
+#428, October 26, 2018)
+ This includes the Bureau of Reclamation's Agrimet network of
+weather stations and similar networks that provide data used for
+improving agricultural water use efficiency and ground-truthing,
+calibrating and validating remote-sensing platforms such Landsat. (WSWC
+Position #418, March 14, 2018)
+ Quoting from a 2007 National Science and Technology Council report,
+A Strategy for Federal Science and Technology to Support Water
+Availability and Quality in the United States, September 2007: ``Many
+effective programs are underway to measure aspects of our water
+resources. However, simply stated quantitative knowledge of U.S. water
+supply is currently inadequate. A robust process for measuring the
+quantity and quality of the Nation's water resources requires a systems
+approach. Surface water, groundwater, rainfall, and snow-pack all
+represent quantities of water to be assessed and managed--from the
+perspectives of quantity, quality, timing, and location.''
+ Sound decision making demands accurate and timely data on
+precipitation, temperature, evapo-transpiration, soil moisture, snow
+depth, snow water content, streamflow, groundwater, water quality and
+similar information.
+ The demands for water and related climate data continue to
+increase, and this information is used by Federal, state, tribal, and
+local government agencies, as well as private entities and individuals
+to: (1) forecast flooding, drought and other climate-related events;
+(2) project future water supplies for agricultural, municipal, and
+industrial uses; (3) estimate streamflows for hydropower production,
+recreation, and environmental purposes, such as for fish and wildlife
+management, including endangered species needs; (4) facilitate water
+management and administration of water rights, decrees, and interstate
+compacts; and (5) design and construct resilient water infrastructure
+projects.
+ Without timely and accurate information, human life, health,
+welfare, property, and environmental and natural resources are at
+considerably greater risk of loss. Data gathering and analysis needs
+transcend administrative agency boundaries and congressional committee
+jurisdiction requiring collaboration. State-of-the-art technology has
+been and is being developed to provide real or near real-time data in
+formats that can be shared and used by different computer programs with
+the potential to vastly improve the water-related information available
+to decision makers in natural resources and emergency management, and
+thus better protect the public safety, welfare and the environment.
+ Vital information is gathered and disseminated through a number of
+important Federal programs that provide useful products to assist in
+visualizing and interpreting data on water and snow, making water
+supply and availability information more accessible, and easy to
+interpret.
+ These include, but are not limited to: (1) the Snow Survey and
+Water Supply Forecasting Program, administered by the National Water
+and Climate Center (NWCC) in Portland, Oregon, and funded through
+USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS); (2) NWCC's Soil
+and Climate Analysis Network (SCAN); (3) the U.S. Geological Survey's
+(USGS) Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program (GWSIP) and
+National Streamflow Network, which are funded through the Department of
+the Interior; (4) Landsat thermal data, archived and distributed by the
+USGS, and other remotely sensed data acquired through the National
+Atmospheric and Space Administration (NASA) and its water-related
+missions; (5) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
+(NOAA) National Weather Service and Climate Programs Office; and (6)
+the Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental
+Information Exchange Network (NEIEN).
+ Over many years, the lack of capital investments in water data
+programs has led to the discontinuance, disrepair, or obsolescence of
+vital equipment needed to maintain existing water resources related
+data gathering activities. There is a serious need for adequate and
+consistent Federal funding to maintain, restore, modernize, and upgrade
+Federal water, weather and climate observation programs, not only to
+avoid the loss or further erosion of critical information and data, but
+also to address emerging needs, with a primary focus on coordinated
+data collection and dissemination.
+ climate adaptation
+ The Council supports state and Federal applied research and
+hydroclimate data collection programs that would assist water agencies
+at all levels of government in adapting to climate variability and
+making sound scientific decisions. (WSWC Position #421, March 14, 2018)
+ Climate variability has serious potential consequences for water
+supply availability, water resources planning and management, water
+rights administration, flood management, and water quality management.
+Further, much of the West's water infrastructure was designed and
+constructed prior to our current understanding of climate variability,
+often from short hydrologic records from the first half of the 20th
+century. The impacts of climate variability can include increased
+frequency and intensity of severe weather (droughts and floods),
+reduction of mountain snowpacks, changes in timing and amount of
+snowmelt runoff, and changes in plant and crop evapotranspiration
+resulting in changed water demand patterns.
+ Climate variability leads to additional stress on western water
+resources, which are already challenged by population growth,
+competition for scarce resources, increasingly stringent environmental
+regulations, and other factors. Water resources planning and management
+at all levels of government and sound future decision making depend on
+our ability to understand, monitor, predict, and adapt to climate
+variability. The Council has over the years co-sponsored several
+workshops to gather input on climate adaptation and research needs,
+including research on extreme events. These workshops and various
+Federal reports have helped in identifying knowledge gaps, research
+needs, opportunities to improve planning capabilities, and other
+activities that would assist in climate adaptation including those that
+could impact water quality and thus, available water supply.
+ Applied research needs and improvements to water resources planning
+capabilities include subjects such as evaluation of modifications to
+reservoir flood control rule curves, evaluation of the adequacy of
+existing Federal hydroclimate monitoring networks, improvements to
+extreme precipitation observing networks and forecasting capabilities,
+development and improvement of applications for remote sensing data
+(satellite imagery), preparation of reconstructed paleoclimate datasets
+for drought analyses, and development of new guidelines for estimation
+of flood flow frequencies.
+ drought preparedness
+ The Council supports the Bureau of Reclamations Drought Response
+Program, as well as other Federal programs including, but not limited
+to, the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), under
+the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and other
+programs designed to improve our forecasting and response capabilities.
+Further, the Council urges and encourages the Congress and the
+Administration to assess and consider the need for a comprehensive
+national drought preparedness and response program on par with Federal
+efforts to address natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes,
+floods and similar extreme events. (WSWC Policy Position #430, October
+26, 2018)
+ Since its inception the Council has been actively involved in
+national drought preparedness, planning and response, as well as
+related policy and program development and implementation. Drought is a
+recurring threat. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
+Administration (NOAA), National Centers for Environmental Information,
+from 2015-2017, economic losses due to drought have been estimated at
+$11.1 billion.
+ The Bureau of Reclamation's current Drought Response Program
+supports a proactive approach to drought and provides financial
+assistance to water managers and users via its WaterSMART program to:
+(1) develop drought contingency plans; (2) implement drought resiliency
+projects to build the capacity of communities to mitigate and respond
+to drought--increasing the reliability of water supplies, improving
+water management and operational flexibility, facilitating voluntary
+sales, transfers or exchanges of water, and providing benefits for fish
+and wildlife and the environment; and (3) undertake emergency actions
+to minimize losses due to drought through temporary construction
+activities and other activities, including water purchases and the use
+of Reclamation facilities to convey and store water.
+ The Council strongly supports legislation to permanently authorize
+Title I activities under the Reclamation States Emergency Drought
+Relief Act and provide adequate appropriations to meet priority needs
+and continue the Reclamation Drought Response Program. There is a
+continuing need for making permanent the temporary authority allowing
+Reclamation the flexibility to continue delivering water to meet
+authorized project purposes, meet environmental requirements, respect
+state water rights, work with all stakeholders, and provide leadership,
+innovation, and assistance.
+ There is a need for maintaining and improving existing monitoring
+networks that help provide drought early warning signals, as well as
+for tracking the impacts of drought. There is a continuing need for
+developing new monitoring technologies, such as remote sensing, that
+provide more timely data on water availability and better spatial
+coverage for assessing water supplies and drought impacts. The
+collection of basic monitoring data on streamflow, snow pack,
+groundwater levels, and weather and climate data are essential to
+understanding water availability and interpreting the early signs of
+drought. (WSWC Position #429, October 26, 2018)
+ subseasonal and seasonal forecasting
+ The Council urges the Federal Government to support and place a
+priority on research to improve subseasonal to seasonal (S2S) forecasts
+and research related to extreme events, including research on better
+understanding of hydroclimate processes, paleoflood analysis, design of
+monitoring networks, and probabilistic outlooks of climate extremes.
+Further, the Council supports development of an improved observing
+system for Western extreme precipitation events such as atmospheric
+river storms, as well as baseline and enhanced stream, snow and soil
+moisture monitoring capabilities.
+ Western states experience great subseasonal, seasonal, and annual
+variability in precipitation, with serious impacts and consequences for
+water supply planning and management, drought and flood preparedness
+and response, water rights administration, operation of water projects,
+and aging water infrastructure. Sound decision making to protect life
+and property by reducing flood risks and to inform decisions involving
+billions of dollars of economic activity for urban centers,
+agriculture, hydropower generation, and fisheries depends on our
+ability to observe, understand, model, predict, and adapt to
+precipitation variability on operational time scales ranging from a few
+weeks to a season or more. Investments in observations, modeling, high-
+performance computing capabilities, research and operational
+forecasting of precipitation provide an opportunity to significantly
+improve planning and water project operations to reduce flood damages,
+mitigate economic and environmental damages, and maximize water storage
+and water use efficiency. (WSWC Position #399, April 14, 2017)
+ The Federal Government should place a priority on continuing
+Federal research to develop new and improved predictive capabilities
+for precipitation at subseasonal to seasonal time scales (as described
+in the report to Congress prepared by NOAA pursuant to Title II of PL
+115-25). Our present scientific capability for forecasting beyond the
+weather time domain--beyond the 10-day time horizon--and at the
+subseasonal to interannual time scales important for water management
+is not skillful enough to support water management decision making. The
+Council has sponsored a number of workshops on hydroclimate data and
+extreme events, to identify actions that can be taken at planning to
+operational time scales to improve readiness for extreme events.
+Multiple approaches have been identified at these workshops that could
+be employed at the planning time scale, including ensembles of global
+circulation models, paleoclimate analyses, and improved statistical
+modeling, to improve flood frequency analysis and/or seasonal
+forecasting. (WSWC Position #407, June 29, 2017)
+ Advances in forecasting research, such as the hydrometeorological
+testbed program on West Coast atmospheric rivers, demonstrate the
+potential for improving extreme event forecasting at an operational
+time scale. The Federal Government should sustain and expand its
+Hydrometeorology Testbed-West program, in partnership with states and
+regional centers, to build upon the initial progress made in that
+program for developing and installing new technologies for
+precipitation observations.
+ The responsibility for operational weather forecasting rests with
+the National Weather Service (NWS), but improvements through Forecast
+Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) is also of particular interest to
+the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which can
+also contribute to this effort.
+ infrastructure financing
+ The Council supports appropriate Federal investments in water
+infrastructure projects and programs that provide jobs and economic
+security, while protecting the environment--as well as dedicated
+Federal water infrastructure funding. (WSWC Position #419, March 14,
+2018)
+ The West and the Nation depend on an intricate and aging system of
+weirs, diversions, dams, reservoirs, pipelines, aqueducts, pumps,
+canals, laterals, drains, levees, wells, stormwater channels, and water
+and wastewater treatment and hydroelectric power plants. Maintaining
+and delivering sufficient supplies of water of suitable quality is key
+to maintaining the Nation's and the West's economic prosperity, meeting
+our environmental needs, and sustaining our quality of life, both now
+and in the future. Appropriate water-related infrastructure investments
+ensure our continued ability to store, manage, conserve, and control
+water during both floods and droughts--as well as protect and treat our
+water resources. Existing and new infrastructure is critical to meet
+drinking water, wastewater treatment, irrigation, hydropower, flood
+control, interstate compact, tribal and international treaty, fish and
+wildlife habitat needs.
+ Water infrastructure in the West is financed and maintained under a
+complex network of state, tribal, local, private, and Federal
+ownership, benefiting a broad segment of water users and other
+stakeholders. Aging water infrastructure has deteriorated--due to
+underfunded and deferred maintenance, repair, and replacement needs--
+and in many cases has exceeded its useful life span, raising public
+health and safety issues, risking loss of life and threatening public
+and private property. Inconsistent, inadequate, and untimely funding
+increases project construction and financing costs, as well as risk,
+including the failure of critical infrastructure. Substantial and
+sustained investments in water project construction, maintenance,
+rehabilitation and replacement is necessary and pays long-term
+dividends to the economy, public health and safety, and the
+environment. The Council supports appropriate infrastructure asset
+management and capital budgeting.
+ Existing Federal, state and local programs to publicly finance
+water-related infrastructure projects are crucial, but insufficient to
+meet water quality and water resources management challenges related to
+future growth, including municipal, industrial, agricultural,
+environmental, and energy needs. Water infrastructure systems require
+ongoing, thoughtful investments to account for life cycle costs, and
+should be managed with planned retirement or replacement in mind.
+ The Federal Government has a significant role to play in financing
+and cost-sharing for water-related infrastructure given Federal
+economic and environmental objectives, Federal tribal trust and treaty
+obligations, other past commitments, and Federal regulatory mandates.
+Federal financial resources are limited, and many authorized Federal
+water infrastructure projects have not been started or remain
+incomplete for decades due to inconsistent, incremental, or
+insufficient appropriations; permitting and licensing backlogs;
+duplicative environmental reviews; litigation delays; and oversight by
+multiple Federal agencies without adequate interagency coordination.
+ Further, current Federal budget scoring guidelines assess the full
+cost of infrastructure investments up front, while disproportionately
+discounting long-term economic, public health and safety, and
+environmental benefits--sometimes making new water project investments
+challenging to justify financially.
+ Local water district and state agency investments, private capital
+markets, performance-based contracting, and other alternatives offer
+help to close the Federal funding, delivery, and maintenance gaps, and
+meet some of our national water infrastructure needs in partnership
+with Federal agencies. Such partnerships have the potential to reduce
+overall project development costs and risks associated with such
+capital investments, expedite project delivery and associated water
+resource benefits, improve efficiencies and cost effectiveness, and
+maximize the respective strengths of the public and private sectors.
+Opportunities exist to leverage Federal and non-Federal funding through
+grants, loans and credit enhancements, as well as provide greater
+access to private sources of financing.
+ One challenge is that Federal agencies often lack legislative
+authority to dedicate a sustained revenue stream to assure non-Federal
+investors are fairly compensated for the costs and risks of
+constructing or maintaining Federal water projects, sometimes requiring
+approval through an act of Congress to proceed. The Council supports a
+method of congressional budget scoring that considers the unique timing
+of the costs and benefits of water infrastructure investments, and
+accounts for long-term public health and safety, economic and
+environmental benefits, with fair and appropriate discounting.
+ There is no one-size-fits-all program, but several Federal
+financial and technical assistance programs, grants, loans, cost-share
+programs, and Federal-state-local or public-private partnerships have
+proven beneficial to the timely completion and ongoing maintenance of
+infrastructure projects at all scales.
+ The Congress and the Administration should work together to ensure
+adequate, stable, and continuing Federal appropriations for
+constructing, maintaining, and replacing critical Federal water
+projects and to assist states and local governments as they address
+their water infrastructure needs. Further, they should work together
+and with the states to streamline permitting processes and coordinate
+environmental and other regulatory reviews to eliminate duplicative
+procedures, reduce costs of compliance and construction, and ensure
+timely completion, maintenance, or relicensing of authorized
+infrastructure projects so vital to the West and the Nation.
+ Moreover, the Council supports the creation and maintenance of
+dedicated water infrastructure funding through special accounts with
+dedicated receipts to be promptly appropriated for authorized purposes
+following their deposit, as well as a variety of grant, loan, credit
+enhancement and other financial incentive programs to help meet diverse
+needs at all scales.
+ rural water projects
+ The Council strongly supports congressional action to expedite
+construction of authorized rural water supply projects in a timely
+manner, including projects that meet tribal trust and other Federal
+responsibilities--recognizing and continuing to defer to the primacy of
+western water laws and tribal settlements in allocating water among
+users. (WSWC Position #423, August 3, 2018)
+ Across the West, rural and tribal communities are experiencing
+water supply shortages due to drought, declining streamflows and
+groundwater supplies, and inadequate infrastructure, with some
+communities hauling water over substantial distances to satisfy their
+potable water needs. Often water supplies that are available to these
+communities are of poor quality and may be impaired by naturally
+occurring and man-made contaminants, including arsenic and carcinogens,
+which impact communities' health and their ability to comply with
+increasingly stringent Federal water quality and drinking water
+mandates. At the same time, many rural and tribal communities in the
+West are suffering from significant levels of unemployment and simply
+lack the financial capacity and expertise to finance and construct
+needed drinking water system improvements.
+ In 2014, the Bureau of Reclamation working with other Federal
+agencies and the Western States Water Council sought to identify and
+evaluate rural water needs and the demand for new rural water supply
+projects. Reclamation estimated the costs for rural potable water
+supply system improvements in the 17 western states to be in the range
+of $5 billion to $9 billion for non-Indian projects and approximately
+$1.5 billion for specific Indian water supply projects. Reclamation
+also estimated that the cost to complete currently authorized projects
+that are under construction rose from the $2 billion originally
+authorized to $2.4 billion (in 2014) and costs continue rising. Given
+past levels of funding these priority projects will not likely be
+completed until well after 2065 at a cost of more than $4.8 billion.
+ Reclamation has not requested funds for grants to undertake
+additional appraisal investigations or feasibility studies for new
+rural water projects, given the significant backlog of authorized
+projects and lack of Federal funding. Federal expenditures for rural
+water projects generate significant returns on the investment through
+increased national and local economic benefits, as well as improvements
+in quality of life. However, project benefits cannot be fully realized
+until the projects are completed.
+ reclamation fund spending
+ The Council has a long-standing policy in support of fully
+appropriating receipts accruing to the Reclamation Fund for authorized
+projects, including rural and tribal water supply projects, as well as
+supporting an investigation of converting it to a true revolving trust
+fund. (WSWC Position #408, June 29, 2017)
+ Under the Reclamation Act of 1902, the Reclamation Fund was
+envisioned as the principle means for financing Federal western water
+and power projects with revenues from western resources--but these
+receipts are only available for expenditure pursuant to annual
+appropriation acts. Receipts are largely derived from water and power
+sales, project repayments, and receipts from public land sales and
+leases, as well as oil and mineral-leasing and related royalties,
+almost exclusively from western lands, many adjacent to rural and
+tribal communities. With growing receipts--in part due to energy
+development across the rural West--and declining Federal appropriations
+for Reclamation Act purposes, the unobligated balance grows larger and
+larger (and is expected to soon exceed $16 billion), while the money is
+actually spent elsewhere, for other Federal purposes, contrary to the
+Congress' original intent.
+ The Council is committed to continuing to work cooperatively with
+the Congress, the Department of the Interior and Bureau of Reclamation
+to meet our present rural water needs in the West for present and
+future generations, within the framework of state water law. The
+Council recommends that the Congress and the Administration investigate
+the advantages of converting the Reclamation Fund from a special
+account to a true revolving trust fund with annual receipts to be
+appropriated for authorized purposes in the year following their
+deposit (similar to some other Federal authorities and trust accounts).
+ tribal water rights settlements
+ The Council has consistently supported negotiated settlement of
+disputed tribal water claims, as well as steps to ensure that
+settlements, once enacted, will be funded. Unresolved tribal claims
+leave tribal and non-tribal water supply reliability uncertain. (WSWC
+Position #412, October 20, 2017)
+ The settlement of Native American water right claims is one of the
+most important aspects of the United States' trust obligation and is of
+vital importance to the country as a whole and not just individual
+tribes or states. The public interest and sound public policy require
+the resolution of tribal water rights claims in a manner that is
+equitable and least disruptive to existing uses of water. Negotiated
+quantification of tribal water rights claims is a highly desirable
+process which can achieve quantifications fairly, efficiently, and with
+the least cost. The advantages of negotiated settlements include: (1)
+the ability to be flexible and to tailor solutions to the unique
+circumstances of each situation; (2) the ability to promote
+conservation and sound water management practices; and (3) the ability
+to establish a foundation for cooperative partnerships between Native
+American and non-tribal communities.
+ The successful resolution of certain claims may require physical
+solutions, such as development of Federal water projects and improved
+water delivery and application techniques that provide tribes with
+``wet water.'' The United States has developed many major water
+projects that compete for use of waters claimed by Native American and
+non-tribal communities and has a responsibility to assist in resolving
+such conflicts. Tribal water rights settlements involve a waiver of
+tribal water right claims and tribal breach of trust claims that
+otherwise could result in court-ordered judgments against the United
+States and increase costs for Federal taxpayers. The obligation to fund
+resulting settlements is analogous to, and no less serious than, the
+obligation of the United States to pay judgments rendered against it.
+ Current Federal budgetary pressures and legislative policies make
+it difficult for the Administration, the states and the tribes to
+negotiate settlements knowing that they may not be funded because
+either they are considered earmarks or because funding must be offset
+by a corresponding reduction in some other expenditure, such as another
+tribal or essential Interior Department program. Tribal water rights
+settlements are not and should not be defined as congressional
+earmarks.
+ Steps should be taken to ensure that any water settlement, once
+authorized by the Congress and approved by the President, will be
+funded. Congress should expand opportunities to provide funding for the
+Bureau of Reclamation to undertake project construction related to
+settlements from revenues accruing to the Reclamation Fund, recognizing
+the existence of other legitimate needs that may be financed by these
+reserves.
+ energy & water planning
+ The Council supports integrating water and energy program and
+project planning, including promoting conservation and use efficiency,
+while seeking to minimize economic, environmental and other costs.
+(WSWC Position #420, March 16, 2018)
+ The West enjoys diverse and abundant energy resources, including
+renewable and non-renewable resources, and the West is a leader in the
+planning, development, diversification, management and protection of
+the Nation's water and energy resources. Maintaining adequate and
+sustainable supplies of clean water and energy present interrelated
+challenges. Water is scarce in much of the region and may or may not
+always be sufficient for all proposed uses. Power plant cooling and
+other energy development related water requirements can be significant
+on state, local and westwide scales.
+ An integrated approach to water and energy resource planning,
+development, diversification, management and protection is necessary to
+achieve a thriving and sustainable future for the West. Effectively
+planning for the future requires gathering and integrating data and
+information on past, present and future water and energy supplies and
+demands, including demands by different sectors, uses and users. In
+general, current water use data (especially consumptive water use data)
+are not sufficient for detailed and comprehensive analyses to support
+many water/energy decisions and policy makers' needs. The Council has
+worked collaboratively with state and Federal agencies to develop a
+better understanding of water and energy supplies and demands.
+ Public-private partnerships are increasingly important in
+addressing our future water and energy challenges; and there is a
+continuing need for Federal and state water and energy resource
+agencies, public utility commissions, and other planners, regulators
+and policy makers to better define and consider the nexus between water
+and energy resources in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
+Continuing water and energy nexus research and development is needed to
+further our understanding and evaluate the effectiveness of different
+policies and programs given various future scenarios.
+ hydropower
+ The Council supports Federal legislative and administrative actions
+to authorize and implement reasonable hydropower projects and programs
+that enhance our electric generation capacity and promote economic
+development, through streamlined permitting processes, while
+appropriately protecting environmental resources. The future
+development of potential hydropower resources should be appropriately
+undertaken in compliance with substantive and procedural state water
+law and interstate compacts, and consistent with the states' authority
+under Clean Water Act Section 401. Further, all rights and preference
+privileges of existing water and power users should be respected. (WSWC
+Position #391, March 22, 2016)
+ The hydropower resources of the West have been developed through
+partnerships between energy and water users and continue to be
+inextricably connected. Clean, efficient, inexpensive hydropower is a
+vital part of the energy resources needed to meet our present and
+future energy demands. Hydropower is a prominent component of
+electricity generation in a number of western states, and important
+part of state renewable portfolio standards. Hydropower is the largest
+source of renewable electricity in the United States, representing
+about 48 percent of total renewable electricity generation, with
+approximately 101 gigawatts (GW) of capacity and nearly 7 percent of
+total electricity generation. (www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2016/10/
+f33/Hydropower-Vision-Chapter-2-10212016.pdf--p. 76)
+ The potential exists for further public and private hydropower
+development by upgrading existing generators, developing small hydro
+and the power potential from existing man-made conduits and canals, as
+well as hydroelectric pumped storage projects. Such development can
+often be undertaken with little impact on the environmental and
+important ecological resources, requiring minimal further environmental
+review. Permitting requirements may be appropriately minimized and
+streamlined so as to promote reasonable development while avoiding
+unnecessary costs.
+
+ Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Question Submitted for the Record by Rep. Cunningham to Tony
+ Willardson, Executive Director of the Western States Water Council
+ Question 1. This is an issue that is particularly relevant to the
+folks of South Carolina's 1st District. Down in my district you've got
+the Ashley River and the Cooper River coming together to form the
+Charleston Harbor before discharging into the Atlantic Ocean. My
+district is among the East Coast's most vulnerable areas when it comes
+to rising sea levels. The lack of infrastructure and drainage systems
+to handle the uncompromising sea level rise often puts our community
+under water. It also leads to habitat loss, seawater encroachment,
+flooding, and a loss of water quality. Scientists expect climate change
+to increase the frequency of very heavy precipitation events. In my
+home state of South Carolina, they say that ``When it rains, it floods
+in Charleston.'' A recent study showed that Charleston is one of the
+most at-risk cities in the United States, and they predict that
+Charleston could be underwater in 80 years. This is a very important
+issue that doesn't just affect Colorado or the western United States,
+it affects all of us.
+
+ What emerging technologies and management approaches can
+communities implement that will help them manage increasingly
+unpredictable precipitation and flood conditions?
+
+ Answer. Thank you for the question Rep. Cunningham.
+
+ Each individual state is unique, and South Carolina faces its own
+particular challenges. While as a region, the West is generally more
+concerned with scarcity, drought and water supply availability, we are
+also vulnerable to flooding and other unpredictable climate extremes.
+Sea level rise and its impact on coastal communities is obviously an
+issue for our West Coast states, and Texas on the Gulf of Mexico. In
+order to improve our resiliency to climate variations, there are both
+short- and long-term actions that the Council supports focused on an
+integrate, collaborative and grassroots approach that will require
+stronger collaboration and cooperation that transcends political and
+geographic boundaries between states, Federal agencies, tribes, and
+local communities.
+ First, we need to invest more to maintain, restore, modernize and
+upgrade water, weather and climate observation networks. We need to be
+able to better define the problems, which requires placing a high
+priority on funding vital water data monitoring and visualization
+programs, and related geospatial applications for climate adaptation
+planning. Critical Federal on-the-ground and remote sensing programs
+include the U.S. Geological Survey's Streamflow Information Program and
+the National Land Imaging Program (and Landsat). The National Oceanic
+and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses Light Detection and Ranging
+(LiDAR), often from aircraft, to gather topographical data supporting
+activities such as inundation and storm surge modeling, hydrodynamic
+modeling, sediment transport modeling, shoreline and habitat mapping,
+emergency response, hydrographic surveying and coastal vulnerability
+analysis. NOAA has also developed and is refining its National Water
+Model, which is primarily designed to predict flooding. Better data and
+science will lead to better decisions, and hopefully allow public and
+private decision makers to take more informed actions to avoid and/or
+mitigate adverse consequences.
+ Second, the Council supports state and Federal applied research
+programs that would assist water and emergency management agencies at
+all levels of government in adapting to climate variability and making
+sound scientific decisions. More informed decision making depends on
+our ability to understand, monitor, predict, and adapt to climate
+variability. The West and the Nation experience great sub-seasonal,
+seasonal and annual precipitation variability. Decision makers need
+more skilled dynamical and probabilistic modeling to better understand
+hydroclimate processes and improve forecasts of rainfall and runoff.
+This involves a greater investment in atmospheric and other sciences,
+as well as high-capacity computing resources for timely and multiple
+runs of very complex models.
+ Third, the West and the Nation depend on an intricate and aging
+water infrastructure system. Greater investment is needed to maintain
+its reliability and our ability to store, manage, conserve, control,
+protect and treat our water supplies. As our ability to predict
+precipitation events improves, particularly extreme events,
+opportunities will become apparent to implement forecast informed
+reservoir operations (FIRO) with more confidence to more efficiently
+operate projects and time reservoir releases to maximize storage for
+both water supply and flood protection.
+ Many water projects have exceeded their design life, and others
+have deteriorated due to underfunded and deferred maintenance, repair
+and replacement. Inadequate, inconsistent, and untimely Federal funding
+increases construction, maintenance and financing costs. Often the lack
+of a dedicated revenue stream raises costs. Moreover, Federal budget
+scoring assesses the full cost of investments upfront, while
+disproportionately discounting long-term benefits.
+ Existing Federal, state and local programs to publicly finance
+water infrastructure are crucial, but insufficient. The Federal
+Government will continue to play a significant role in cost sharing and
+financing projects with national benefits. Further, opportunities also
+exist to leverage Federal, non-Federal and private capital through
+grants, loans and credit enhancements.
+ Long-term difficult decisions and expensive investments may be
+necessary to adapt to climate variability and extreme events related to
+sea level rise. Speaking from personal experience, my home state of
+Utah is obviously not susceptible to sea level rise, but much of our
+population is located along the Wasatch Front, adjacent to the Great
+Salt Lake. A terminal lake, its levels have dropped to the point that
+it isn't so great--as a result of multiple years of drought! However,
+in the 1980s the lake rose unrelentingly due to unusually wet weather
+patterns. I remember volunteering to fill sand bags on a Sunday night
+at midnight, and for days water ran in a makeshift channel through
+downtown Salt Lake City. That year there was also significant damage to
+the spillway outlets at the Federal Glen Canyon Dam as Upper Basin
+flows on the Colorado River peaked.
+ In response to the flooding and rising lake levels, communities
+around the lake seriously considered the need to dike around their
+sewage treatment plants. Salt Lake City improved its storm drain
+system. The state of Utah with Federal funding raised I-80 near the
+lake, not once, but twice. The state also built a pumping plant to move
+lake water into our West Desert to evaporate. The Corps of Engineers
+completed a long-delayed flood control reservoir above the city,
+Mountain Dell. The Bureau of Reclamation redesigned and rebuilt the
+outlets at Glen Canyon. Similar measures are likely to be needed across
+the country as we adapt to changing climate conditions and increasing
+variability.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Willardson. Next we recognize
+Mr. Bill Diedrich, who will be testifying on behalf of the
+Family Farm Alliance.
+ Thank you for being here, Mr. Diedrich. The Chair
+recognizes you for 5 minutes.
+
+ STATEMENT OF BILL DIEDRICH, FAMILY FARM ALLIANCE, LOS BANOS,
+ CALIFORNIA
+
+ Mr. Diedrich. Good morning, Chairman Huffman, Ranking
+Member McClintock, and members of the Subcommittee. My name is
+Bill Diedrich. On behalf of the Family Farm Alliance, I thank
+you for this opportunity to present this testimony on
+reliability of water supplies in the western United States.
+ I am a fourth-generation California farmer, and I cherish
+the role that sustainable, irrigated agriculture plays in
+producing safe and affordable food supply. Those of us who
+understand say we have dirt in our veins. My written testimony
+illustrates the problems the western farmers and ranchers face,
+in terms of water supply reliability. The testimony outlines
+what producers like me and others across the West are doing to
+address these challenges, and it provides policy
+recommendations that we believe lay the foundation for more
+effectively addressing water supply reliability in the western
+United States.
+ The most helpful thing that Congress can do for states
+suffering from unreliable water supply is to urge creativity,
+innovation, and flexibility on the part of Federal water
+management and regulatory agencies.
+ My state of California is still recovering from the 2012-
+2016 drought, the worst drought in its recorded history. Record
+dry conditions, coupled with water supply reductions related to
+regulatory actions and aging water infrastructure, resulted in
+water supply reductions or constraints for all beneficial uses
+of water in California.
+ During the height of recent drought, for 3 years in a row,
+many agricultural water users effectively received no
+allocations at all from the Federal Central Valley Project, one
+of the largest irrigation water projects in the world. These
+challenges continue, despite recent and continued
+precipitation. As of last week, nearly every reservoir in
+California is at or over its historical average for this time
+of year. Still, CVP farmers south of the delta were given an
+initial allocation of only 35 percent of their contract
+amounts.
+ What this means is that California has plentiful snow,
+plentiful rain, and nearly adequate reservoir levels. Yet, at
+this time the San Joaquin Valley CVP Ag. water service
+contractor irrigators are likely to receive less than half of
+their contracted water supplies when the final allocations are
+made. These initial allocation numbers are critical to making
+crop planting decisions.
+ California's groundwater resources are an overdraft, and
+the drought has made this worse. The Sustainable Groundwater
+Management Act passed by the state of California in 2014 will
+become fully implemented and begin the process of eliminating
+this overdraft by 2040.
+ There are only two ways to achieve this: increase supply or
+reduce demand. This will magnify the surface water shortfall
+and jeopardize the safe and affordable food supply produced in
+the Central Valley of California. This groundwater depletion
+has occurred in the San Joaquin Valley, predominantly as a
+result of reduction in reliability of surface water supplies.
+ The recent and current water crisis in California provides
+a real-world sense of the types of challenges western
+irrigators face in times of reduced water supply reliability.
+These include competition for scarce water supplies,
+insufficient water infrastructure, growing populations,
+endangered species, and increased climate variability.
+ Water management in the West is becoming increasingly
+complex and inflexible. Water managed for environment is not
+held to an equal standard of accountability as other beneficial
+uses. The Federal Endangered Species Act needs to be
+implemented in a multi-faceted way across agencies to better
+benefit species, the environment, and rural communities.
+Considering increased climate variability and competing needs,
+it is obvious the western water storage capacity is
+insufficient.
+ Given these challenges, in order to secure future water
+supply reliability, we must depend on collaborative, science-
+based water management decisions; increase our investments in
+water infrastructure; and diversify our water portfolio,
+including water recycling, conservation, reservoir
+optimization, and weather forecasting technologies. What works
+for one region doesn't work for all.
+ Thank you, and I would stand for any questions members of
+the Subcommittee have. Thank you.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Diedrich follows:]
+ Prepared Statement of William Diedrich, representing The Family Farm
+ Alliance
+ Good morning Chairman Huffman, Ranking Member McClintock, and
+members of the Subcommittee. My name is William Diedrich, and on behalf
+of the Family Farm Alliance (Alliance), I thank you for this
+opportunity to present this testimony on a matter of critical
+importance to our membership: the reliability of water supplies in the
+western United States. The Alliance is a grassroots organization of
+family farmers, ranchers, irrigation districts, and allied industries
+in 16 western states. The Alliance is focused on one mission: To ensure
+the availability of reliable, affordable irrigation water supplies to
+western farmers and ranchers. We are also committed to the fundamental
+proposition that western irrigated agriculture must be preserved and
+protected for a host of economic, sociological, environmental, and
+national security reasons--many of which are often overlooked in the
+context of other national policy decisions.
+ The Family Farm Alliance has a long history of collaboration with
+partners in all levels of government, conservation and energy
+organizations, and Native American tribal interests who seek real
+solutions to water resources challenges in the West. We seek to
+advocate for a proper role for the Federal Government on water matters,
+a vision that focuses on research and development; full integration,
+coordination and maximum sustainable use of resources; and planning
+that is driven from the ``ground up.'' The Alliance also has a well-
+established relationship with Congress, with 70 invitations to testify
+before congressional committees on Western agriculture, water and
+environmental matters in the past decade.
+ This testimony will illustrate the problems Western farmers and
+ranchers face in terms of water supply reliability, outline what
+producers like me and other Westerners are doing to address these
+challenges, and provide policy recommendations that we believe lay the
+foundation for effectively addressing water supply reliability in the
+western United States.
+ personal background
+ I am a fourth-generation California Central Valley farmer and I
+appreciate the role of a sustainable irrigated agriculture industry. I
+have also been very involved in water issues and see the importance of
+reliable water for the many important needs that exist. At my core, I
+am a Californian and an American, and I believe the health of our
+communities, our ecosystems and our farmers and ranchers are directly
+related to our prosperity as a state and a Nation. Water shortages
+affect all sectors of the Western economy, creating problems for cities
+and towns, manufacturers, builders, service providers, and individual
+citizens that are just as challenging as the difficulties faced by
+farmers and ranchers. The environment, too, is stressed by water
+shortages. In many areas of the West, we see fish and wildlife,
+plentiful or endangered, struggling to adapt and survive in extremely
+harsh conditions during times of drought.
+ Water connects us all--farms, cities and the environment--and while
+decreased water supply reliability presents unique problems for each
+sector, our solutions should be interconnected and mutually
+beneficial--not divisive. That requires a willingness of all parties,
+including Federal agencies, to be creative and flexible. That is
+happening in some places. In other places, it's not. The most helpful
+thing that Congress can do for states suffering from a lack of water
+supply reliability is to encourage, demand, and even mandate, where
+necessary, creativity, innovation and flexibility on the part of
+Federal water management and regulatory agencies.
+ The Family Farm Alliance is an organization made up of farmers and
+ranchers in the West, but the water shortage problems we all face vary
+by region, topography, climate, soil conditions, hydrology, and crop.
+These problems have some elements in common, including inadequate or
+deteriorating water storage infrastructure, inflexible or outdated
+operational requirements and regulatory conditions, and government
+agencies that are not nimble enough, or not motivated, to seek out and
+embrace better ways of doing things to ensure the most benefit for the
+broadest suite of public interests. Solutions also vary by state or by
+region, but they, too, are characterized by certain common elements,
+including creativity, flexibility and balance. I will discuss water
+supply reliability issues in a few different areas of the West, as well
+as some examples of successful solutions and potential solutions. Since
+I'm from California, I'll begin there.
+ recovering from the 2012-2016 california drought
+ California is still recovering from the 2012-2016 drought, the
+worst drought in its recorded history. Record dry conditions, coupled
+with water supply reductions related to regulatory actions and aging
+water storage and conveyance infrastructure, resulted in water supply
+reductions or constraints for most sectors in California. In 2014, vast
+areas of farm land in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys received
+no surface water at all--a 100 percent reduction. Those same areas were
+again zero-ed out in 2015. Overall, agricultural water supplies in the
+Central Valley have had their reliability reduced by 65 percent since
+1992. During the drought, nearly 75 percent of the state's irrigated
+farm land (7 million acres), received 20 percent or less of its normal
+surface water supply and according to the California Department of
+Water Resources (DWR), nearly 692,000 acres of farmland were fallowed
+in 2014 as a result of water shortages.
+ During the height of the recent drought, for 2 years in a row, many
+agricultural water users received no allocations at all from the
+Federal Central Valley Project (CVP), one of the largest water projects
+in the world. Table 1 shows the CVP allocations from 2014-2016. In both
+2014 and 2015 no surface water supplies were allocated to water users
+on the Tehama-Colusa Canal, and in the San Luis Unit and Friant
+Division of the CVP. Settlement contractors, primarily agricultural
+water users, have water rights that pre-date the Federal project,
+making them priority rights on the system, yet even allocations to
+those senior water rights holders were reduced during the drought.
+
+ Table 1. Central Valley Project Water Allocations (2014, 2015 & 2016)
+[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
+
+
+SOURCE: BUREAU OF RECLAMATION 2019
+
+ Almost as large as the Federal CVP, California's State Water
+Project (SWP) cut agricultural deliveries by 80 percent in 2015.
+ In most areas where surface water supplies were severely reduced or
+eliminated, farmers turned to groundwater to maintain their permanent
+crops--grapes, tree fruits, nuts, citrus--that represent a lifetime's
+investment. But groundwater supplies are not infinite and were severely
+depleted during the drought in areas that received no surface water.
+Groundwater also isn't cheap. Wells cost upwards of $200,000 each and
+they are expensive to run, so many farmers pump only enough water to
+keep their trees alive, but not producing. Often, farmers tear out
+mature, productive trees and vines and replace them with saplings that
+won't produce a crop for years, but require far less water to keep
+alive in challenging conditions. And in some places like the citrus
+belt in the Friant Division of the CVP, there is no groundwater at all.
+The many small farms there, which produce most of the Nation's oranges,
+had their surface water cut off for the first time in 60 years in 2014
+and 2015.
+ Many of my neighbors in 2014 and 2015 were forced to abandon or
+fallow portions of their farms. When one hears that land is
+``fallowed'' it might only seem that the impact is to the farmer, but
+that is definitely not the case. Every acre of farmed land generates
+jobs, economic activity and products. That is why the reduction in the
+water supply reliability of the CVP is so devastating to the rural
+agricultural communities of the Central Valley.
+ For every acre fallowed, workers have less work and tractors are
+used less. If I use my tractor less, I buy less fuel, lubricants and
+parts and tires, which means the local businesses that supply these
+things sell less and their companies suffer. When I don't purchase
+inputs for the land (fertilizer, seeds, amendments, etc.), the local
+companies that sell these items suffer reduced sales and the truck
+drivers who deliver these items have less work. With fewer trucks
+running fewer routes, fuel and parts purchases are reduced. If that one
+fallowed acre was intended to be a tomato field, those tomatoes would
+not be trucked to market or the processing plant.
+ As you can see, there is a direct interconnection between
+agriculture and many other industries. Press reports will acknowledge
+that California agriculture is a $50 billion industry, but then attempt
+to minimize this impact by suggesting that it is ``only'' 2 percent of
+the GDP of the state. The oft-reported $50 billion number is only the
+farm gate value of the products. It does not include all the other
+industries that benefit from the trucking and processing of the
+agricultural products (and all the fuel, parts, etc., from the
+activities). Clearly, agriculture is a huge economic driver for my
+state, particularly in rural communities. A report by the University of
+California shows that the food and beverage industry contributed $82
+billion and 760,000 jobs that are directly and indirectly linked to
+agricultural products.\1\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \1\ http://giannini.ucop.edu/media/are-update/files/articles/
+V18N4_3.pdf.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ This is a very concerning time for me, my family, and my neighbors,
+since substantial investments are being made, primarily with the intent
+of converting more of our operation to drip irrigation, which we hope
+will stretch limited water supplies. This conversion creates an
+electrical demand as we move from gravity irrigation to pressurized
+subsurface irrigation. My friend Cannon Michael, who serves on the
+Family Farm Alliance board of directors, recently installed 1 megawatt
+of solar panels to offset the impact of the power cost needed to
+support his drip irrigation conversion. Those investments will be for
+naught if the current lack of reliability for surface water deliveries
+persists into the future and there is no water to conserve or use for
+groundwater recharge.
+ My fellow California farmers are doing their best to offset the
+devastating loss of water. For example, producers have been forced to
+buy water, when available, from other sources. In certain instances,
+farmers had no choice but to buy water at a rate more than 25 times
+what they normally would pay. In the absence of once reliable surface
+water supplies, California farmers have looked to groundwater, where
+available, which is not sustainable. Central Valley producers have been
+trying to get ahead of a much feared, but anticipated, drought for
+years. Notably, they've spent about $3 billion to install more
+efficient irrigation systems on almost 2.5 million acres from 2003 to
+2013, according to information compiled by the California Farm Water
+Coalition. These investments will continue as farmers strive to stretch
+and most efficiently manage their water supply.
+ california drought: myth vs. reality
+ Here are some facts that are often overlooked in media coverage of
+the recent California drought:
+
+ California agriculture grows more than 50 percent of
+ America's fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables across 78,000
+ farms, 400 crops and 450,000 jobs. California's value of
+ agricultural output was $50 billion in 2017.\2\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \2\ California Department of Food and Agriculture, Gianinni
+Foundation of Agricultural Economics--University of California, USDA,
+Assembly Committee on Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy.
+
+ California is the country's largest agricultural producer
+ and exporter. Agricultural products were one of
+ California's top 5 exports in 2017, totaling $20.6 billion,
+ over 14.6 percent of total U.S. agricultural exports.\3\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \3\ California Department of Food and Agriculture, California
+Agricultural Statistical Review, 2017-2018.
+
+ Crop production per acre-foot of water rose 43 percent in
+ California between 1967 and 2010.\4\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \4\ USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, California
+Department of Water Resources.
+
+ Some media accounts continue to advance the decades-old myth that
+farmers consume 80 percent of water supplies in California and other
+parts of the West. But if we look at the ``water footprint'' in the
+same way as we have come to talk about the ``carbon footprint,'' we get
+a different picture, particularly in California. Numbers from the
+California DWR provide perspective. According to the Department,
+statewide water use breaks down as follows: 10 percent urban use; 41
+percent agricultural use and 49 percent use for environmental
+management: wetlands, Delta outflow, wild and scenic designations, and
+instream flow requirements.
+ We should also recognize that farms transform water into products
+that are needed to sustain the lives of our entire population. We are
+all part of ``agricultural water use'' every day--multiple times per
+day.
+ Others in the media suggested that the shift toward higher value
+crops like nuts and wine grapes have led to an increase in agricultural
+water use. During the 2014-2015 drought years, almonds were the
+preferred target of these reports. But according to California DWR, the
+total amount of agricultural water use has held steady since 2000 and
+has actually declined over the longer term.
+ the california water reliability crisis
+ California has an incredibly diverse and variable climate, with
+precipitation and snowpack totals varying widely from year to year,
+with runoff totals ranging from a high of 52,830,000 acre-feet in 1983
+to the lowest recorded runoff of 6,170,000 acre-feet in the driest
+individual year of 1977. While California has natural variability in
+precipitation and snowpack, water allocations to CVP contractors have
+been disconnected from water year types, predominantly resulting from
+increased requirements for environmental water deliveries. This year is
+a good example of the increasing disconnect between the amount of
+actual water that California receives each year and the ability of the
+Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) to operate the CVP and allocate
+water to its contractors in a fashion that reflects the actual
+hydrology.
+ As of February 22, 2019, nearly every reservoir in California is at
+or over its historical average for this time of year, snow water
+content is 115 percent of the April 1 peak, and precipitation is 120
+percent of average, but just last week, south of Delta CVP agricultural
+service contractors received an initial allocation of only 35 percent
+of their contract amounts. What this means is that California has
+plentiful snow, plentiful rain, and nearly full reservoirs, yet San
+Joaquin Valley irrigators are likely to receive less than 50 percent of
+their contracted water supplies when the final allocations are made. In
+order to make decisions about planting crops, a farmer must consider
+the water available to grow the crop. Thus, the initial allocation
+numbers are critical. Even if the allocation increases in future
+months, it will be past the time when a farmer must make their decision
+to plant.
+Future Projections
+ The Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers Basin Study released by
+Reclamation indicates that throughout the 21st century, temperatures
+are projected to increase, snowpack will likely decline and snowpack
+elevation levels will rise, precipitation will increase during fall and
+winter months, and spring runoff will decrease. These factors will
+exacerbate the existing imbalance between the demands in these river
+basins and the ability to deliver reliable water supplies to
+communities and ecosystems that rely on them. The result of these
+changes, coupled with expected population growth and changes in land
+use, is an average annual unmet water demand for CVP contractors that
+is expected to range between 2.7 million and 8.2 million acre-feet per
+year, with most of the unmet demands occurring south of the Bay-
+Delta.\5\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \5\ https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/
+sec_order_no._3343_cal_water_0.pdf.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Groundwater
+ Groundwater is a critically important part of California's water
+supply, accounting for 40 percent of total annual agricultural and
+urban water uses statewide in an average year, and up to 65 percent or
+more in drought years. About three-quarters of the state's residents--
+around 30 million people--depend on groundwater for at least a portion
+of their water supply; for 6 million residents, it is their only
+supply.
+ California DWR estimates that on average, 2,000,000 acre-feet is
+withdrawn from the state's aquifers per year more than what is being
+recharged, and much more so during periods of drought. This is nothing
+new; scientists estimate that since California's development in the
+late 1800s, the state's groundwater reserves have been reduced by
+125,000,000 acre-feet, or 4.5 times the capacity of Lake Mead. Most of
+this groundwater depletion has occurred in the San Joaquin Valley,
+predominantly as a result of a reduction in the reliability of surface
+water supplies.
+ key challenges facing western irrigators
+ The key challenges Western irrigators face in times of reduced
+water supply reliability include competition for scarce water supplies,
+insufficient water infrastructure, growing populations, endangered
+species and increasing weather variability/climate change. Across the
+West, several key water policy challenges stand out:
+Water management in the West is becoming increasingly complex and
+ inflexible
+ We need a new way of looking at how we manage our limited water
+resources, one that includes a broader view of how water is used, along
+with consideration of population growth, food production and habitat
+needs. The goal should be to integrate food production and conservation
+practices into water management decision making and water use
+priorities, creating a more holistic view of water management for
+multiple uses. We must begin to plan now in order to hold intact
+current options. Planning must allow for flexibility and consider all
+needs, not just focus on meeting future needs from population growth.
+ In many parts of the West, litigation stemming from citizen suit
+provisions of environmental laws including the ESA and Clean Water Act
+(CWA) is producing Federal court decisions (or court approved
+``settlements'') that direct Federal agency ``management'' of state
+water resources. Congress should recognize that this type of litigation
+and resulting settlements can actually harm the overall health and
+resilience of landscapes and watersheds by focusing on single species
+management under the ESA. We should seek solutions that reflect a
+philosophy that the best decisions on water issues take place at the
+state and local level. Finding ways to incentivize landowners to make
+the ESA work is far more preferable than the ESA being used as a means
+of ``protecting'' a single species (such as the Sacramento-San Joaquin
+River Delta smelt in California, or the spotted frog, in Oregon)
+without regard for other impacts, including those on other non-listed
+or state-listed species.
+ Droughts occur routinely in the West; that is why Reclamation made
+such important investments in water supply infrastructure over the past
+century. However, this infrastructure was never designed to meet the
+burgeoning demands of growing populations and environmental needs in
+the West, while continuing to support farmers, ranchers and rural
+communities during periodic droughts. Unfortunately, future droughts in
+the West are predicted to be deeper and longer than we have
+historically experienced in the 20th century. We believe Congress
+should provide Federal agencies with more flexibility under
+environmental laws and water management regulations to respond to
+drought conditions when they arise. And where such flexibility
+currently exists, Congress should demand that agencies use it promptly
+and with a minimum of bureaucratic delay.
+ As one example of where innovation, flexibility and creativity are
+needed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) operates dozens of
+water projects throughout the West, and it regulates the operations of
+many non-Federal dam and reservoir projects according to criteria that
+in many cases were established decades ago and have not been updated to
+reflect changed conditions or new technology. As a result, projects are
+sometimes forced to waste large amounts of water in order to adhere to
+the letter of a flood-control plan that no longer has a basis in
+reality. The Corps now has existing authority to make short-term
+adjustments to operation criteria during droughts, but the agency
+rarely does so on a proactive basis.
+Environmental water management should be held to an equal standard of
+ accountability as other beneficial uses
+ We must manage water to meet all needs but in a manner that
+``shares the pain,'' not creates winners and losers, especially when
+the losers are mostly the very beneficiaries--farmers and rural
+communities--the Federal water projects were originally built to serve.
+The past Federal management of water flows in California's Bay-Delta,
+which has redirected millions of acre feet of water away from human
+uses and toward the environment, with little, if any, documented
+benefit to the ESA-listed fish intended for protection, is a prime
+example.
+ Good water management requires flexibility, as well as adaptive
+management. More regulation usually reduces this flexibility to balance
+competing demands and find a way forward that works for all
+stakeholders. Federal agencies managing the competing demands for water
+in the West have in some cases failed in creating opportunities for
+more flexible water management during times of crisis, and rarely
+measure their actual results (good or bad) from their water supply
+decisions.
+The ESA needs to be implemented in a new way to better benefit species
+ and rural communities
+ The original intent of the ESA--stated in the Act itself--was to
+encourage ``the states and other interested parties, through Federal
+financial assistance and a system of incentives, to develop and
+maintain conservation programs which meet national and international
+standards.'' Of special importance to the Family Farm Alliance is that
+the ESA explicitly declared that it was the policy of Congress that
+``Federal agencies shall cooperate with state and local agencies to
+resolve water resource issues in concert with conservation of
+endangered species.''
+ The authors of the ESA clearly believed in applying the ESA in a
+way that would foster collaboration and efficiency of program delivery,
+in an incentive-driven manner. Unfortunately, implementation of the ESA
+has developed into an approach that is driven by litigation and
+conflict rather than collaboration. As far as the Act itself is
+concerned, little to no progress has occurred to keep this 40-year-old
+law in step with the challenges facing declining species in an era of
+climate change. The ESA has not been substantially updated since 1988.
+ At the heart of the Family Farm Alliance's concerns with the ESA is
+the ever-present potential of serious Federal restrictions being placed
+on the West's irrigation water storage and delivery activities, often
+using federally developed water infrastructure in protecting listed
+species. Future endangered species listings are on the horizon. That
+prospect has the Alliance very concerned about potential new Federal
+restrictions being placed on the water supplies that are crucial to the
+West's $172-billion per year irrigated agricultural economy.
+ The ESA, while well intentioned, is a law that is not working as it
+was originally intended. It needs to be more about incentives and
+collaboration and less about litigation and regulation. Fewer than 2
+percent of the species ever listed under the Act have been recovered
+and removed from the list. Meanwhile, the negative economic and
+sociologic impacts of the ESA have been dramatic.
+ The Family Farm Alliance for decades has worked to develop
+specific, practical changes to the ESA that we think will make it work
+effectively today. Application of the ESA today must be viewed through
+the prism of other human needs, including food production. To that end,
+management of our natural resources should be geared toward an approach
+that views the entire landscape in a more holistic manner regarding its
+value for wildlife, food production, and other capacities. The
+flexibility built into the Act has the potential to yield net
+conservation benefits for imperiled species, as ESA practitioners have
+recognized.\6\ While a regulatory approach may be necessary for species
+on the brink of extinction, such an approach should be employed
+sparingly, consistent with congressional intent and sound public
+policy.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \6\ P. Henson, R. White, and S.P. Thompson. 2018. Improving
+Implementation of the Endangered Species Act: Finding Common Ground
+Through Common Sense, BioScience (available at https://doi.org/10.1093/
+biosci/biy093).
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Insufficient Storage and Aging Water Infrastructure Must be Addressed
+ to Protect Future Water Supply Reliability
+ More surface and groundwater storage is a critical piece of the
+solution to future water shortfalls. Congress should streamline
+regulatory hurdles and work to facilitate the construction of new and
+expanded surface storage facilities, providing a more effective process
+to move water storage projects forward.
+ Also, new tools to assist in financing major improvements to aging
+water infrastructure will be needed in the coming years to ensure that
+farmers and ranchers who benefit from these upgrades can afford
+repayment terms. Water infrastructure is a long-term investment, as are
+farms and ranches, and longer repayment and lower interest terms will
+be crucial to reinvesting in these aging facilities to meet the
+challenges of tomorrow. Such improvements could include investments in
+everything from new and expanded water storage reservoirs (both on- and
+off-stream), regulating reservoirs, canal lining, computerized water
+management and delivery systems, real-time monitoring of ecosystem
+functions and river flows for both fish and people, and watershed-based
+integrated regional water management. With the creation of the Water
+Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) in the WRRDA 2014,
+the Alliance believes a similar affordable loan program could be
+instituted at Reclamation to assist in providing capital for such
+investments. Also, more flexibility may be needed to allow for private
+investments at Reclamation facilities in order to attract additional
+capital to meet future water supply needs.
+ Western irrigators need flexible, streamlined policies and new
+affordable financing tools that can provide balance and certainty to
+support collaborative efforts and manage future water infrastructure
+challenges. Solutions in all of these areas will be crucial to future
+successes in agricultural production, conservation and community
+outcomes in the West.
+ innovative solutions
+ For family farmers and ranchers, finding solutions to constantly
+emerging challenges is just business as usual. Nature, the markets and
+the government are always finding new problems to throw at farmers, and
+farmers who are not determined, resourceful and innovative will not
+succeed.
+ Irrigators and their local water agencies are responding to the
+challenges of reduced water supply reliability with determination,
+resourcefulness and innovation. They also are bringing those attributes
+to bear in planning for a future where ``drought'' may be a long-term
+or even permanent condition. Throughout the West, farmers, ranchers and
+irrigation agencies have undertaken creative measures to efficiently
+manage increasingly scarce water resources. Some of these actions were
+intended to address the immediate crisis of recent western droughts;
+others have been implemented as part of the broad portfolio of actions
+that successful farmers are employing to stay profitable in today's
+fierce economic and regulatory climate. If Federal agencies are willing
+to work collaboratively with farmers and ranchers, the result would
+likely be better management of water for both economic purposes and
+environmental uses.
+ The following are real-world examples that Congress and the
+Administration should consider when developing legislation and polices
+to address the current drought and water management for the future:
+
+Collaboration, Ecosystem Restoration, and New Storage: Yakima Basin
+ (Washington)
+
+ The Yakima River Basin in Washington State does not have enough
+surface water storage facilities, with over 2.4 million-acre feet of
+water needs annually dependent upon only 1 million acre-feet of surface
+water storage capacity. The Yakima Basin is experiencing increased
+pressures and demands on our 1 million acre-feet of reservoir storage
+capacity, while we are now at above average carryover water storage,
+current water storage capacity cannot make up for shortages in the snow
+pack. They desperately need increased water storage carrying capacity
+to meet dry-year demands like those we experienced in 2015, with pro-
+ratable (junior) water rights receiving only 47 percent of normal
+supplies--a dire situation for the significant number of permanent
+crops in the Basin.
+
+ To help plan for expanding access to more irrigation and M&I water
+storage capacity and to help relieve tensions in the Yakima Basin over
+water supply management for all needs, a large cross-section of the
+water stakeholder interests and the Yakama Nation have worked together
+over the past several years in developing the Yakima Basin Integrated
+Plan. The Integrated Plan is a well thought out, long-term
+comprehensive set of solutions to restore ecosystem functions and fish
+habitat and improve long-term reliability of water supplies for stream
+flows, agricultural irrigation and municipal supply. The Integrated
+Plan was developed in a public, collaborative process involving local,
+state, Federal and tribal governments plus stakeholders representing
+environmental, irrigation and business interests. The consensus
+achieved by this diverse group represents a major and unprecedented
+accomplishment for the Yakima Basin and for water management in the
+western United States. The Integrated Plan offers a means to avoid a
+tangle of litigation and hardship for these users in future years. The
+Yakima Basin Integrated Plan is believed to be the first basin-wide
+integrated plan in the United States to achieve this level of success.
+
+ Prior efforts to increase water storage in the Yakima Basin have
+failed, in part due to a lack of consensus among the key stakeholders.
+The Integrated Plan offers the best opportunity in decades to resolve
+long-standing problems afflicting the Basin's ecosystem and economy. In
+addition, improving water conservation and management, along with
+making available increased water storage for farms, fish and our
+communities are key components of the Plan. When implemented, the Plan
+will greatly improve operational flexibility to support instream flows
+while meeting the Basin's basic water supply needs under a wide range
+of seasonal and annual snowpack and runoff conditions, both now and
+under a wide range of estimated future hydrologic and climatic
+conditions.
+
+Long-term Environmental Enhancement and Water Supply Reliability:
+ Voluntary Settlement Agreements to update the Sacramento San
+ Joaquin Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (California)
+
+ The California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) oversees
+water rights and water quality in California. The Board is in process
+of updating its Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan, which identifies
+beneficial uses of the Bay-Delta, water quality objectives for the
+reasonable protection of those beneficial uses, and a program of
+implementation for achieving those objectives.
+
+ The U.S. Department of the Interior, the California Natural
+Resources Agency, and water rights holders throughout California are
+working on a separate but related effort to craft voluntary,
+stakeholder-based outcomes in the watersheds of the Sacramento River
+and major San Joaquin River tributaries. These voluntary settlement
+agreements (VSAs) are a comprehensive plan to improve water quality and
+habitat conditions with a manageable impact to water users and
+highlight the positive outcomes that can occur when agencies choose to
+collaborate with water users. Implementation of the VSAs will maintain
+the viability of native fishes in the Sacramento and San Joaquin River
+watersheds and the Delta ecosystem, while concurrently protecting and
+enhancing water supply reliability, consistent with the statutory
+requirement of providing reasonable protection for all beneficial uses.
+ The VSA's have a few key components: \7\
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \7\ Framework Proposal for Voluntary Agreements to Update and
+Implement the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (https://
+water.ca.gov/-/media/DWR-Website/Web-Pages/Blogs/Voluntary-Settlement-
+Agreement-Meeting-Materials-Dec-12-2018-DWR-CDFW-CNRA.pdf).
+
+ Provide additional instream flows averaging between
+ 740,000 and 1,040,000 acre-feet in a manner that does not
+ conflict with groundwater management requirements under
+ California law, doesn't reduce flows for wildlife refuges,
+ and maintains reliability of water supply for other
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ beneficial uses.
+
+ Implementation of significant non-flow measures to address
+ the many factors negatively impacting fish populations,
+ including predation by non-native species, passage
+ barriers, and hatchery productivity.
+
+ The development of a comprehensive science and monitoring
+ program, incorporating a structured decision-making
+ process, to inform implementation of flow and non-flow
+ measures.
+
+ Dedicated funding for implementation of science and
+ ecosystem and habitat improvement measures of approximately
+ $770 million from a per acre-foot fee placed on water
+ users.
+
+ It is the Alliance's position that locally negotiated, stakeholder
+driven solutions are far more durable than those driven through a
+regulatory process that leads to litigation. The Alliance would urge
+congressional support for Federal efforts to implement California's
+Voluntary Settlement Agreements.
+Conservation and Drought Resilience: Colorado River Basin
+ In Wyoming, ranchers Pat and Sharon O'Toole have always managed
+their land with conservation in mind. Along the way, they've built
+strong partnerships with Trout Unlimited, Audubon Wyoming and The
+Nature Conservancy; organizations some ranchers once viewed as
+adversaries. Further south, in the fertile North Fork Valley outside of
+Paonia, Colorado, Harrison Topp took the leap from annual vegetable
+production to perennial fruit, growing food in a region with just 15
+inches of annual average precipitation.
+ The Family Farm Alliance report, ``Innovations in Agricultural
+Stewardship: Stories of Conservation & Drought Resilience in the Arid
+West,'' \8\ focuses on these two case studies and three others that
+profile producers across the Colorado River Basin and beyond who--with
+curiosity, creativity and seasons of trial and error--are conserving
+resources while enhancing productivity. The Alliance teamed up with the
+National Young Farmers Coalition on this report with the aim of
+elevating the voices of farmers and ranchers who are employing smart
+solutions to build drought resilience, steward water and grow good
+food.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ \8\ https://www.youngfarmers.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NYFC-
+template-FINAL_low New.pdf.
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ Some of the farmers highlighted in the Alliance report are
+integrating efficient irrigation technology with soil health to
+increase both productivity and water savings. Others are navigating
+conservation within constraints outside of their control, such as the
+operations of the ditches which deliver water to farms. To paint a
+fuller picture of the complexities and nuances of agricultural water
+conservation in the West, the Alliance worked with the engineering firm
+Applegate Group to create a water balance for three of the case
+studies. These water balances utilize a technical, objective approach
+to assess the producers' water rights, current conservation efforts,
+and barriers or opportunities for future conservation. They underscore
+the reality that conservation practices are different on every
+operation and unique from farm to farm.
+ As the pressures of climate variability and drought increase,
+farmers and ranchers are at the forefront of our national adaptation
+strategy. Producers are coming together to help one another, but they
+also need support from consumers, policy makers, scientists, and
+service providers. The Alliance hopes that these case studies will
+provide policy makers and other stakeholders with a more nuanced
+understanding of the diversity and complexity of western agricultural
+water conservation and an appreciation of what continuing to take
+agricultural lands out of production might mean.
+Empower Locals to Develop New Storage: Sites Joint Power Authority
+ (California)
+ Growing concerns about the delays and costs associated with the
+proposed Sites off-stream reservoir project in the Sacramento Valley of
+California, as well as the need for a local voice, led to the
+formation, in August 2010, of the Sites Project Joint Powers Authority
+(Sites JPA). The Sites JPA, which includes Sacramento Valley counties
+and water districts, was formed with the stated purpose of establishing
+a public entity to design, acquire, manage and operate Sites Reservoir
+and related facilities to improve the operation of the state's water
+system.
+ The Project would also provide improvements in ecosystem and water
+quality conditions in the Sacramento River system and in the Bay-Delta,
+as well as provide flood control and other benefits to a large area of
+the state of California. The formation of local JPA's was included as a
+key provision in the 2009 California Water Package Water Bond
+legislation for the purposes of pursuing storage projects that could be
+eligible for up to 50 percent of project funding for public benefits.
+ As the Sites JPA began working with the Bureau of Reclamation and
+California Department of Water Resources, the JPA took a common-sense
+approach. The JPA worked with Reclamation and DWR to put together
+Foundational Formulation Principles. In other words, first identifying
+the needs of the water operations system and then designing the project
+that would meet those needs. Local project proponents envisioned a
+project that would be integrated with the system they already had, and
+one that would also operate effectively regardless of future
+operational changes to the larger system, such as construction of new
+conveyance to export water users located south of the Delta. The JPA
+wanted to maximize the benefits associated with existing infrastructure
+and provide as much benefit as possible to both the existing state and
+Federal water projects at the lowest feasible cost.
+ The JPA has approached the Sites project with the goal of making
+the best possible use of limited resources, and in the end, local
+irrigators believe they have identified a project that is both
+affordable and will provide significant benefits. The proposed project
+maximizes ecosystem benefits consistent with the state water bond,
+which states that at least 50 percent of the public benefit objectives
+must be ecosystem improvements. Other benefits include water supply
+reliability, water quality improvements, flexible hydropower
+generation, more recreation benefits and increased flood damage
+reduction. In short, the JPA approached the Sites project with the goal
+of generating water for the environment while improving statewide water
+reliability and regional sustainability in Northern California. They
+believe they are achieving that goal.
+Collaboration with Diverse Stakeholders: The Western Agriculture and
+ Conservation Coalition (WACCC)
+ The Family Farm Alliance sits on the Steering Committee of the
+Western Agriculture and Conservation Coalition (WACC), a diverse group
+of organizations that first came together a decade ago around the Farm
+Bill conservation title with the goal of supporting the common
+interests of agriculture and conservation. Other founding steering
+committee members included Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy,
+California Farm Bureau, Environmental Defense Fund, Public Lands
+Council, Arizona Cattle Growers Association, Wyoming Stock Growers
+Association, and the Irrigation Association. The group has expanded in
+recent years; for a complete list of members, go to: http://
+www.waccoalition.org/.
+ The WACC is becoming increasingly effective on the narrow list of
+topics its members engage in, including the farm bill that Congress
+passed last December, sending the compromise legislation to the
+President's desk. The new farm bill includes several important
+provisions--many of them driven by the WACC--that will assist Western
+agricultural irrigators. The new farm bill included expanded authority
+under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for
+irrigation districts--for the first time ever--to receive funding as
+direct applicants for water conservation measures, as well as continued
+eligibility as partners for conservation activities with growers. This
+language was originally proposed and advocated for by the Alliance and
+other WACC partners starting a decade ago. The new EQIP includes
+funding for water conservation scheduling, water distribution
+efficiency, soil moisture monitoring, irrigation-related structural or
+other measures that conserve surface water or groundwater, including
+managed aquifer recovery practices. The farm bill also provides
+improved contracting for partners engaged in work with producers, which
+is intended to be streamlined and made more effective under the
+Regional Conservation Partnership Program. Importantly, the 2018 farm
+bill preserves existing authorization structure and $50 million in
+mandatory funding for the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention
+Act, a flexible and useful program utilized by Western water managers.
+The demand for this program is probably at least twice as much as what
+was funded, but the farm bill made this mandatory funding, which is
+encouraging.
+ The WACC provides a core that can help policy makers and our
+collective members remember that the foundation for some true,
+collaborative solutions that are driven from the constructive
+``center.'' The WACC shared perspective on species conservation is
+rooted in our experience with practical, on-the-ground solutions that
+work well for ranchers, farmers, and other landowners, as well as for
+fish, wildlife and plants. Indeed, maintaining a mosaic of working
+farms and ranches along with lands managed for conservation purposes,
+represents the best opportunity for conserving the ecosystems upon
+which species depend so that species do not decline to the point where
+a listing under the ESA is warranted, and so that currently listed
+species can recover.
+ Unless the agricultural industry and conservation come together,
+the public policies and resource management strategies necessary to
+maintain a viable and sustainable rural West will be impossible to
+achieve. There will always be isolated instances of successful
+partnerships. But, these discrete examples of success will not suffice.
+The threats to a viable and sustainable rural West are numerous,
+complex, and variegated. A broad and authoritative voice like that of
+the WACC is needed to effectively address these threats with
+collaborative solutions. The coalition's recent engagement and success
+in the farm bill's conservation title is Exhibit ``A'' toward that end.
+ how the federal government can help
+ The Congress and the Federal Government certainly cannot change the
+hydrology of the West, but there is a role it can play to support
+family farmers and ranchers. Policy makers should understand the
+following observations and principles as they develop new solutions to
+the decreasing long-term reliability of western water supplies:
+
+ State water laws, compacts and decrees must be the
+ foundation for dealing with shortages.
+
+ Water use and related beneficial use data must be
+ accurately measured and portrayed.
+
+ Benefits of water use must reflect all economic/societal/
+ environmental impacts.
+
+ Water conservation can help stretch water supplies, but
+ has its limits in certain situations (impacts to
+ groundwater recharge by moving away from flood irrigation).
+
+ Public sentiment supports water remaining with irrigated
+ agriculture, and developing strategic water storage as
+ insurance against shortages.
+
+ Technologies for water reuse and recycling are proven
+ effective in stretching existing supplies for urban,
+ environmental and other uses.
+
+ Urban growth expansion should be contingent upon
+ sustainable water supplies; using irrigated agriculture as
+ the ``reservoir'' of water for municipal growth is not
+ sustainable in the long run and will permanently damage our
+ Nation's food supply and rural communities.
+
+ Planning for water shortage in the West must look to the
+ long-term in meeting the goals of agriculture, energy,
+ cities, and the environment.
+
+ A successful water shortage strategy must include a
+ ``portfolio'' of water supply enhancements and
+ improvements, such as water reuse, recycling, conservation,
+ water-sensitive land use planning, and water system
+ improvements. New infrastructure and technologies can help
+ stretch water for all uses.
+
+ Temporary fallowing proposals should be approached in a
+ thoughtful, thorough manner only after urban, energy and
+ environmental users of water demonstrate a better
+ management of their share of the finite supply.
+
+ Unintended consequences associated with reducing
+ productive agricultural land/groundwater recharge/riparian
+ habitat benefits should be avoided and, if unavoidable,
+ minimized and fully mitigated.
+
+ We offer the following specific actions that Federal policy makers
+can address in new water supply legislation:
+Encourage accurate measurement and portrayal of water use and related
+ beneficial use data
+ As is often the case, what happens in California often has a ripple
+effect that extends to other western states. For example, the common
+misconception that ``farmers use 80 percent of the water'' is applied
+by critics of irrigated agriculture in areas throughout the West. We
+need to find clear and comparable ways to present these types of water
+use numbers as we struggle with finding the appropriate way to
+prioritize our water uses among competing demands. And, we need a solid
+understanding of how water used for environmental purposes is really
+benefiting the species or habitat it is intended to protect, and how to
+more efficiently manage such uses for maximum benefit using less water,
+the same standard to which irrigated agriculture is currently being
+held.
+Find ways to streamline regulatory hurdles to assist in developing new
+ environmentally sensitive storage projects and other necessary
+ infrastructure improvements
+ In past Congresses, several bills have been introduced that were
+intended to facilitate the construction of new surface storage
+facilities. Congress should work to pass legislation to increase water
+storage throughout the western United States.
+ The President and Congress will prioritize whatever Federal funds
+are available to meet existing and future water supply needs. As for
+the rest of the necessary capital needed to develop and construct this
+new water infrastructure, it must come either from state and local
+governments or from the private sector. If the Federal Government
+cannot fund the required investments, it should take meaningful steps
+to provide additional incentives for non-Federal entities to fill the
+void, and remove barriers to the new ways of doing business that will
+be required.
+ The Alliance believes that the Federal Government must seriously
+consider adopting a policy of supporting new projects to enhance water
+supplies while encouraging state and local interests to take the lead
+in the planning and implementation of those projects. Local and state
+interests (see Sites JPA example above) have shown enormous creativity
+in designing creative water development projects. Water agencies have
+at times obtained additional Federal funding through the appropriations
+process; however, Reclamation could also supplement this effort by
+providing funding for local partnership agreements, especially where
+Reclamation and its water contractors are identified as potential
+beneficiaries.
+Provide additional funding to support WaterSMART and/or other programs
+ that provide incentive-driven cost share money for new water
+ conservation projects
+ Small Federal investments in cost-shared, competitive grants help
+irrigation districts make larger investments in water conservation and
+management technologies that can help stretch water supplies to meet
+unmet needs. The Secure Water Act should be reauthorized to extend
+these grant programs into the future. Additionally, legislation should
+be enacted to authorize Reclamation to develop or access a WIFIA-like
+loan program, which would increase access to affordable, long-term,
+credit-based loans to help support locally developed water projects
+across the West.
+Require fish and wildlife agencies to set scientifically based
+ priorities and be accountable in their effort to manage
+ environmental water
+ In the western United States, environmental enhancement and
+mitigation programs are increasingly competing for existing sources of
+water. In some instances, these actions have caused major conflicts,
+costly lawsuits and delayed benefits for endangered species and the
+environment. Water is far too important a resource in an era of a
+changing climate to utilize it in an ineffective or inefficient manner.
+Accordingly, the Alliance believes that all users of water should be
+held to the same level of accountability in their water use.
+Environmental interests, fish and wildlife agencies and water managers
+must set scientifically based priorities and be held accountable in
+their effort to manage environmental water. Legislative language that
+requires fisheries agencies to demonstrate quantifiable benefits to
+targeted imperiled fish species would be helpful. An institutional
+structure that ensures true peer review and impartial decision making
+relative to this objective would also be useful.
+ conclusion
+ California and the West need to manage water as if every year is a
+drought year. We need to invest in new water storage facilities to
+capture water in wet years, we need to look to innovative technology to
+enhance management of water supplies and delivery and we need to
+maximize the benefits from the water we have available to meet multiple
+needs. The ability to measure, assess and show value for how that water
+is used is incumbent on every water manager--environmental, urban and
+agricultural.
+ It will be hard work to reach an agreement and enact legislation to
+wisely manage the West's water now and in the future, but that's the
+kind of work we elected you to do. Farmers work hard, and we expect
+Congress to do the same. We need you--all of you, urban and rural,
+Republican and Democrat--to come together and find a way to fix this
+broken system, now, before it breaks us all.
+ Only together can we in California and the West plan and prepare
+for our collective future. If we don't, we ensure only that the water
+supply reliability will continue to decline.
+ Thank you.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Diedrich. The Chair will now
+recognize Mr. Harrison Ibach.
+ Mr. Ibach is President of the Humboldt Fishermen's
+Marketing Association and is a commercial fisherman in my
+district.
+ Welcome, Mr. Ibach. In my district and across the Pacific
+Coast, native fisheries provide a livelihood for fishermen and
+their families and are a key element of our local economy and
+culture. I want to personally thank you, Mr. Ibach. I
+appreciate you being here to tell this Subcommittee how drought
+and water supply shortages have affected fishing communities
+all along the Pacific Coast.
+ Welcome. You are recognized for 5 minutes.
+
+ STATEMENT OF HARRISON IBACH, PRESIDENT, HUMBOLDT FISHERMEN'S
+ MARKETING ASSOCIATION, HUMBOLDT, CALIFORNIA
+
+ Mr. Ibach. Good morning Chairman Huffman, members of the
+Committee. It is good to be with you today. My name is Harrison
+Ibach. I am the President of the Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing
+Association, and I am the owner and captain of the fishing
+vessel Oceana from which 100 percent of my income is generated.
+I fish for salmon, Dungeness crab, and groundfish out of Eureka
+in Northern California. I have come here today so you can hear
+directly from the North Coast about the devastation that water
+mismanagement has caused to my family and my community.
+ I am going to give you the salmon industry's perspective on
+California's water resources, the ways these resources are
+being managed and abused, and what Congress might do in order
+to save the Central Valley from itself and assure a more
+equitable use of our vital water system to benefit all of the
+food producers of our state who rely on it.
+ Salmon are part of a cycle that nature has managed well for
+millions of years. But in the last century, water mismanagement
+in the West has sent our salmon into a death spiral. When I was
+born, in the early 1980s, there were around 4,500 commercial
+salmon fishermen in California. Today, there are fewer than 450
+who can afford the time and the financial investment to fish
+for salmon each summer. It has become so bad that we have lost
+90 percent of our fishery.
+ When King Salmon fisheries are healthy, they are an
+economic powerhouse, feeding America. These fish support 23,000
+jobs in California and 11,000 in Oregon in a normal, non-
+drought year. The industry serving both sport and commercial
+salmon generates about $1.4 billion in economic activity by the
+time you add in all the multipliers, and about half that much
+again in jobs and dollars in Oregon, where as much as 60
+percent of their ocean-caught salmon originate in California's
+Central Valley.
+ We haven't had a decent salmon season since 2013, and the
+fishery hasn't been reliable since long before. Decisions at
+the Federal level have a tangible impact on salmon stocks and
+on our incomes. I have personally witnessed the devastating
+effects of mismanagement of water. I saw the largest salmon
+kill in the western United States on the Klamath River in 2002.
+Up to 70,000 adult salmon died when water was diverted away
+from the river for use inland.
+ Relaxed regulatory oversight and maximized Delta pumping
+between 2003 and 2006 led to the complete closure of the salmon
+fishery in 2008 and 2009. Imagine that for a second. For 2
+years straight, an entire industry was told it could not go to
+work. This shutdown was a nightmare for the fishing industry.
+We had to rely on Federal disaster relief to scrape by.
+Fishermen don't favor handouts. We know how to work hard, and
+we prefer to go to work.
+ In 2013, there was a good season because of the strong
+salmon protections coming from the Endangered Species Act's
+2009 salmon Biological Opinion and a wet spring in 2011. In the
+years since, California went through the worst drought it has
+had in decades.
+ The 2009 Biological Opinion gave salmon a break for a
+couple of years. If it hadn't been implemented, the drought
+would have wiped us out for good. The overwhelming success of
+the 2009 Biological Opinion was short-lived due to the
+stressors of the 2012-2016 drought. But now the Federal
+Administration wants to erase the gains we made by installing
+an even more regressive water regime than we had before 2009.
+And if this Subcommittee doesn't pump the brakes and stop this
+callous action, we won't have a salmon fishery. And that is the
+truth.
+ Today's Bureau of Reclamation appears to me to be run more
+like a cash faucet for irrigators than a water agency that owns
+and operates storage and flood-control infrastructure. The
+Bureau has recently released a Biological Assessment for a new
+Central Valley Project Operations Program. According to experts
+who my organizations work with, this new management regime
+would be ruinous to our salmon. It would certainly bring
+economic devastation to the coastal communities like mine.
+ Members of the Subcommittee, this Administration's war on
+salmon must be stopped in its tracks. We know that water
+management can make or break a fishing season and can determine
+if a fisherman will be able to provide for his family. Sending
+water to the ocean is not wasting it--it is an investment in
+biodiversity, in the fishing industry, and our coastal
+communities. The industry is looking toward our Federal and
+state water managers to determine the future of salmon and our
+industry.
+ Looking forward, the projects and standards being pursued
+at the Federal level will only help push salmon and West Coast
+commercial fishermen to extinction.
+ Honorable members of the Subcommittee, please make sure
+salmon fishermen are protected so we can continue to share
+nature's bounty with you and our fellow Americans. Thank you.
+
+ [The prepared statement of Mr. Ibach follows:]
+ Prepared Statement of Mr. Harrison Ibach, President, Humboldt
+ Fishermen's Marketing Association
+ Good morning Chairman Huffman, members of the Committee. It's good
+to be with you today. My name is Harrison Ibach, I'm the President of
+the Humboldt Fishermen's Marketing Association and I'm the owner and
+captain of the fishing vessel Oceana from which 100 percent of my
+income is generated. I fish for salmon, Dungeness crab, and groundfish
+out of Eureka in Northern California. I've come here today so you can
+hear directly from the North Coast about the devastation that water
+mismanagement has caused to my family and my community. I'm going to
+give you the salmon industry's perspective on California's water
+resources, the ways these resources are being managed and abused, and
+what Congress might do in order to save the Central Valley from itself
+and assure a more equitable use of our vital water system to benefit
+all of the food producers of our state who rely on it.
+ Commercial fishing has been a noble occupation since before the
+founding of this country. The ocean's bounty has been a cultural and
+culinary mainstay of the West Coast for thousands of years. And in our
+part of the world, salmon is king. Or at least it was.
+ Salmon are part of a cycle that nature has managed well for
+millions of years. But in the last century, water mismanagement in the
+West has sent our salmon into a death spiral.
+ When I was born, in the early 1980s, there were around 4,500
+commercial salmon fishermen in California. Today, there are fewer than
+450 who can afford the time and financial investment to fish for salmon
+each summer. It has become so bad that we've lost 90 percent of our
+fishery.
+ When king salmon fisheries are healthy, they're an economic
+powerhouse, feeding America. These fish support 23,000 jobs in
+California and 11,000 in Oregon in a ``normal'' non-drought year. The
+industry serving both sport and commercial salmon generates about $1.4
+billion in economic activity by the time you add in all the
+multipliers, and about half that much again in jobs and dollars in
+Oregon, where as much as 60 percent of their ocean caught salmon
+originate in California's Central Valley.
+ We haven't had a decent salmon season since 2013, and the fishery
+hasn't been reliable since long before. Decisions at the Federal level
+have a tangible impact on salmon stocks, and on our incomes.
+ I have personally witnessed the devastating effects of
+mismanagement of water. I saw the largest salmon kill in the western
+United States on the Klamath River in 2002. Up to 70,000 adult salmon
+died when water was diverted away from the river for use inland.
+ Relaxed regulatory oversight and maximized Delta pumping between
+2003 and 2006 led to the complete closure of the salmon fishery in 2008
+and 2009. Imagine that for a second. For 2 years straight an entire
+industry was told it couldn't go to work. This shutdown was a nightmare
+for the fishing industry. We had to rely on Federal disaster relief to
+scrape by. Fishermen don't favor handouts--we know how to work hard and
+we prefer to go to work.
+ In 2013, there was a good season because of the strong salmon
+protections coming from the Endangered Species Act's 2009 salmon
+biological opinion and a wet spring in 2011. In the years since,
+California went through the worst drought it's had in decades.
+ The 2009 Biological opinion gave salmon a break for a couple of
+years. If it hadn't been implemented, the drought would have wiped us
+out for good.
+ The overwhelming success of the 2009 Biological Opinion was short
+lived due to the stressors of the 2012-2016 drought. But now, the
+Federal Administration wants to erase the gains we made by installing
+an even more regressive water regime than we had before 2009. And if
+this Subcommittee doesn't pump the brakes and stop this callous action,
+we won't have a salmon fishery. And that's the truth.
+ Today's Bureau of Reclamation appears to me to be run more like a
+cash faucet for irrigators than a water agency that owns and operates
+storage and flood control infrastructure. The Bureau has recently
+released a Biological Assessment for a new Central Valley Project
+operations program. According to experts who my organization works
+with, this new management regime be ruinous to our salmon. It would
+certainly bring economic devastation to coastal communities like mine.
+Members of the Subcommittee, this Administration's war on salmon must
+be stopped in its tracks.
+ We know that water management can make or break a fishing season
+and can determine if a fisherman will be able to provide for his
+family. Sending water to the ocean is not wasting it--it is an
+investment in biodiversity, in the fishing industry, and our coastal
+communities. The industry is looking toward our Federal and state water
+managers to determine the future of salmon, and of our industry.
+ Looking forward, the projects and standards being pursued at the
+Federal level will only help push salmon, and West Coast commercial
+fishermen, to extinction.
+ We have a saying in California fisheries: are you here for the
+salad, or are you here for the main course? Honorable members of the
+Subcommittee, please make sure salmon fishermen are protected so we can
+continue to share nature's bounty with you and our fellow Americans.
+Thank you.
+
+ ______
+
+
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Ibach. I thank the panel for
+the testimony. I want to remind Members that Committee Rule
+3(d) imposes a 5-minute limit on questions. The Chair will now
+recognize Members for any questions they may wish to ask the
+witnesses.
+ I will start by deferring to Mrs. Napolitano.
+ Mrs. Napolitano. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would first
+like to introduce a letter that I sent as Chair of this
+Committee on August 28, 2009 to Mr. Ken Salazar, Secretary of
+the Interior, on recycled water.
+ I focus mostly on recycled water because in California we
+are in the desert in the south of California. And we have had a
+long battle with Northern California over the water. And the
+spectrum is everything. There is no silver bullet to the water
+wars that we have in California. However, I would like to
+suggest that we refocus on making water. By making water I say
+recycled water, specifically.
+ The letter included how to look at the establishment of a 1
+million acre-foot new water program, help farmer irrigation
+efficiency, and establish a water conservation initiative for
+urban and rural water districts.
+ That said, I understand the Committee's effort to bring it
+all together. I would like to ask a few questions, Mr.
+Willardson.
+ Title XVI has been successful in helping construct water
+recycling infrastructure and is greatly underfunded. We
+currently have $64 million approved by the Committee, but none
+funded. There is no way to fund these projects with $50 million
+a year. I introduced a bill that increased the authorization to
+$500 million so we can finally start to adequately fund and
+complete the approved projects.
+ I have heard firsthand not only from my water agencies, but
+from up and down California and other states, how vital the
+program is. Do you believe recycled water projects are the most
+cost-effective solution to drought management or one of the
+tools in the box?
+ And to start refocusing investments to our recycled water,
+do you think an increase in Federal funding would help this
+problem?
+ Mr. Willardson. Yes, Representative Napolitano. The Council
+supports an all-of-the-above approach to diversifying our water
+resources and supplies. Obviously, water reuse is something
+that is being used in many areas, particularly in the
+Southwest. States are making their own investments, as are
+local communities.
+ As I mentioned, with respect to the Reclamation fund, the
+current receipts are roughly $2 billion, something under that
+now. We are spending about $1 billion on authorized Reclamation
+programs. If all of that money were spent, we could go a long
+ways to funding water reuse projects, or addressing some of the
+infrastructure deferred maintenance backlog, and a number of
+other projects, including rural and tribal water supply
+projects.
+ Mrs. Napolitano. Thank you. We are working in Southern
+California to limit demand for imported water, due to the
+unpredictability of supply. Can you discuss the predictability
+that recycled water provides and how that affects the cost in
+the long run?
+ Mr. Willardson. Obviously, it is an area that has sometimes
+been called drought-proof, in that we do have the opportunity
+to reuse it over and over again. I have toured the Orange
+County facility twice. The first time they wouldn't let me
+drink the water. The second time I did get to try it.
+ It is an important area. It is not inexpensive. There are
+many other areas that we have to look at. I can tell you that I
+have looked at conservation early in my career, and that is not
+inexpensive, either. I think it is one of many important areas
+that we need to look at, particularly in Southern California.
+ Mrs. Napolitano. Southern California has long been the
+leader in modernizing water infrastructure. The county recycles
+more than 100 million gallons of water per day for irrigation
+purposes. Has the farming community gone to recycling?
+ Mr. Willardson. I can tell you that there are a number of
+opportunities to capture tailwater and to reuse that water, as
+well as to move toward the appropriate use of different
+qualities of water.
+ Northern water, I think, in Colorado, they are looking to
+use wastewater that has been treated after it has been used for
+municipal purposes. So, there are changes that are happening,
+as well, of reuse in the agricultural community.
+ Mrs. Napolitano. Thank you.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes Ranking
+Member McClintock for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. McClintock. Thank you.
+ Mr. Willardson, let me ask you this question. What is
+better, abundance or scarcity? I know that sounds like a trick
+question, but it is a very important one that we are exploring
+with this last line of questioning. What is better, abundance
+or scarcity?
+ Mr. Willardson. Well, obviously, we would like more water
+or more money, or both.
+ Mr. McClintock. OK, so let me go over these figures again.
+And these are from San Diego County. They come to us from the
+California Energy Commission. The mean cost of surface water
+storage for San Diego County was $600 per acre-foot;
+groundwater storage, $737 per acre-foot; importing water, $925;
+recycling, $1,500 per acre-foot; and desalination, which San
+Diego has made an enormous investment in, cost them a
+staggering $2,300 per acre-foot. So, desalination costs us
+roughly four times what surface water storage costs in San
+Diego, a very dry area of the country.
+ The question is, shouldn't we be focusing on the least
+expensive sources of water before we put money into the most
+expensive? What is better, 1 gallon of water or 4 gallons of
+water?
+ Mr. Willardson. Well, I minored in economics. I know a
+little bit about markets, enough to know I don't like macro or
+micro, but I can tell you----
+ Mr. McClintock. It is pretty much a rhetorical question,
+because I want to go on to another question I think is also
+very important.
+ Mr. Willardson. I would state simply that there are many
+different factors that go into water cost that have to be
+considered. And obviously, as an economist, we look at what are
+the lower costs, but they are not always available.
+ Mr. McClintock. Again, my time is limited, so I want to go
+on to another question for you.
+ We have heard that snowpacks are going to be reduced in the
+future. Precipitation is going to be realized more as rain than
+as snow. We are not going to be able to store precipitation as
+snow in the mountains as long. Doesn't that suggest that we
+need to be capturing that runoff in reservoirs, rather than
+lose it to the ocean?
+ Mr. Willardson. Obviously, it is going to change the regime
+in which we look at our water supplies.
+ Mr. McClintock. If we can't store it as snow, doesn't that
+mean we need to store it as water?
+ Mr. Willardson. Surface reservoirs are one. Groundwater
+recharge or other opportunities which are being used widely.
+ Mr. McClintock. Right, so, again, it gets back to a very
+simple question--if we can't store it as snow, we have to store
+it as water, or we lose it.
+ Mr. Diedrich, would you agree?
+ Mr. Diedrich. I absolutely agree.
+ Mr. McClintock. How about the Shasta Dam? That was built in
+the 1940s. It was built to an elevation of 600 feet. It was
+actually designed to be 800 feet. We can't even get a minor 20-
+foot extension over decades of studies. Would that be an
+appropriate policy avenue to pursue, if our objective is clean,
+cheap, and abundant water?
+ Mr. Diedrich. I believe it would.
+ Mr. McClintock. Mr. Udall, what is your view of that?
+ Mr. Udall. I don't claim to have any particular expertise
+on Shasta and the raising of its elevation. Clearly, in some
+places raising existing reservoirs makes sense. Other places,
+it doesn't.
+ Mr. McClintock. Your father thought it made sense; he is
+the one who authored the 1980 legislation authorizing the
+expansion of Shasta.
+ Mr. Willardson, my limited understanding of meteorology is
+that the El Nino is actually triggered by warmer than average
+temperatures in the Pacific. Doesn't that mean, if the climate
+is warming, we should be expecting more precipitation overall,
+not less?
+ Mr. Willardson. Again, I am not a climatologist, but I
+would expect that that is the case.
+ Mr. McClintock. And, certainly, that is what we are
+observing. I cited the EPA study in my opening statement. Just
+within the 48 contiguous states, we have seen 17 one-hundredths
+of an inch per decade of increased precipitation. Over 12
+decades, that is 2 inches of additional precipitation per year,
+so it seems like we are looking at more water, not less.
+ The problem is how we are able to store it, transfer it as
+snow in the mountains to water in our reservoirs, to transfer
+it from wet years to dry years, and to transfer it from wet
+regions to dry regions.
+ Mr. Willardson. The challenge, really, is where that water
+is going to fall, and how that is going to change. And we do
+not have an understanding of the dynamical earth systems to be
+able to make those predictions.
+ Mr. McClintock. Mr. Diedrich, you testified we are at 115
+percent of snowpack right now. You are getting 35 percent of
+allocations. Why the difference?
+ Mr. Diedrich. The difference is because of cold water being
+held in Shasta for salmon, basically.
+ Mr. McClintock. Well, let's look at the salmon, looking at
+the relative numbers for California. Agriculture produces about
+$50 billion a year in direct product. The salmon industry, $88
+million. So, for every dollar that the salmon industry
+produces, agriculture generates $568. Am I in the ballpark
+there?
+ Mr. Diedrich. I believe you are.
+ Mr. McClintock. Great, thank you.
+ Mr. Huffman. The Chair now recognizes himself for 5
+minutes.
+ Mr. Willardson, since you were asked to respond to some
+hypotheticals, let me ask you one. What is more valuable to
+western states, paper water or wet water?
+ Mr. Willardson. Wet water.
+ Mr. Huffman. And does building new dams make it rain or
+snow any more?
+ Mr. Willardson. It does not. It does provide the
+opportunity to store what we do get.
+ Mr. Huffman. Is it fair to say that over the last century,
+California and other western states have identified the most
+productive sites for dams, for the most part, and built them?
+ Mr. Willardson. We obviously depend now on the investments
+that have been made in the past, and will continue to do so.
+And it has provided a lot of flexibility.
+ Mr. Huffman. And with respect to new surface water storage
+projects, the cost estimates that you just heard for dams that
+were built in the previous century, the most productive sites
+that were identified and constructed, these new projects now
+that are being proposed are at a much higher cost, are they
+not?
+ Mr. Willardson. They are at a greater cost, both----
+ Mr. Huffman. Mr. McClintock has cited some costs in
+questioning you for recycled water and desalination, over
+$1,000 an acre-foot. I will just say that the new storage
+projects in California, if you back away the public subsidy,
+are very much in that range.
+ And lest we disparage desalination and recycling, let me
+just point out under the new Majority one change you see is
+that we don't have these little bottled water units at every
+desk, because for the last 6 years, while criticizing recycling
+and desalination as too expensive, our colleagues across the
+aisle thought that the taxpayer dollars should be spent on
+bottled water for each Member of Congress that, if you pencil
+it out, is over $3 million an acre-foot. So, perspective is
+also important.
+ Let's go to you, Mr. Udall. Of course we would all like to
+see abundance. But your testimony urged us to plan for
+increased scarcity and increased volatility because of climate
+change. What do you think is the most prudent baseline
+assumption as we go forward and think about the infrastructure
+and the policy solutions to build a resilient water supply, and
+why?
+ Mr. Udall. The Southwest is not homogenous with regard to
+future water supplies. The southern portion of the United
+States and the southern portion of the Southwest clearly are
+looking at hotter and drier conditions. As you go north--and I
+would suggest that line might be the Colorado-Wyoming border,
+maybe the middle of Colorado--we expect to see increased
+precipitation.
+ Congressman McClintock's remarks about increased precip
+globally are true, but we have regional winners and losers. And
+unbelievably, we get both more floods and more droughts out of
+climate change. We lose on both sides.
+ Mr. Huffman. Mr. Nelson, you spoke eloquently about
+communities that have been impacted by water shortages in the
+Central Valley. If you did away with the Endangered Species Act
+and all the other environmental laws that we have heard
+criticized in some of the testimony and the comments, would
+that solve the problem for the communities that you represent?
+ Mr. Nelson. No, it wouldn't. And, in fact, we would expect
+that it would make the challenge even worse. And we would say
+that it is a false choice to choose between environmental
+protections that in fact do protect our communities and in
+making sure that every American can have access to safe
+drinking water.
+ Mr. Huffman. Mr. Udall just mentioned the notion of winners
+and losers. And Mr. Ibach, you offered some testimony that was
+a little different than what we often hear in this Committee.
+When there are water shortages for agriculture, I think we are
+very familiar with the concept of fallowing and the hardships
+that sometimes are felt. But we haven't had a chance to hear
+about what happens to fishing communities because of droughts
+and water management decisions. Can you speak specifically
+about what you have seen in your community from those impacts?
+ Mr. Ibach. Yes, absolutely. I know in my community we have
+seen a lot of hardship. I have personally witnessed many
+families go through many financial hardships. I have witnessed
+people not only lose their jobs, but forced to sell everything.
+ And that is not just in my community. When we are talking
+about coastal communities that are affected by a lack of
+salmon, it is not just our community in Northern California. It
+extends as far south as Santa Barbara in California, and all
+the way up to the Oregon border. And not just up to the Oregon
+border, it actually extends all the way up into Oregon and
+Washington. And not only Washington, it actually extends all
+the way up into Alaska, as well.
+ The fall-run salmon from Sacramento are actually caught up
+and down the entire West Coast of the United States. So, it is
+not just our local communities, it is actually up and down the
+entire West Coast.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes Mr. Hice
+for 5 minutes.
+ Dr. Hice. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. I do
+live in what is referred to as Lake Country in Georgia. We have
+over 800 miles of shoreline in my district. And just for
+clarification and simplification, let me just say that dams
+protect us both from floods and drought. I think that is an
+important thing for us to come to just a basic understanding,
+which I know we know, but it is good for it to be restated.
+ Mr. Diedrich, let me go to you. I am not an expert, by any
+means, on California. But my basic understanding is, current
+population there is ballpark 39 million. But the water supply
+is really suited for approximately 22 million. Is that your
+understanding?
+ Mr. Diedrich. That is a fair characterization.
+ Dr. Hice. A fair characterization, all right. I also am
+under the impression that California is expected to double in
+size by 2050 and have approximately 80 million. If that is the
+case, what in the world are they going to do? What needs to
+happen to catch up from currently being behind in the capacity
+of water? And what in the world needs to happen to be prepared
+for the influx of population growth?
+ Mr. Diedrich. It is absolutely going to take a portfolio
+approach to every area.
+ But Number 1 is that we are going to have to have increased
+storage in the state of California. You cannot put water in the
+ground when there is a flood. You have to put water in the
+ground off season. And in order to do that, you have to store
+it when it comes down.
+ So, storage is absolutely vital. We have to find additional
+storage that can be built as soon as possible in the state of
+California.
+ Dr. Hice. Sounds like it is going to require a significant
+amount of storage, as well.
+ Going along with that, we also all know how much produce is
+provided for our country that comes out of California, just
+with fruits and nuts and vegetables, all that sort of thing.
+Probably 50 percent or so for our country comes out of
+California.
+ If what you just highlighted does not take place, the
+increase of storage capacity for water, how would that impact
+the rest of the country, in terms of produce coming out of
+California?
+ Mr. Diedrich. The safe and affordable food supply that
+comes out of the Central Valley and all of California is going
+to be in jeopardy. I cannot tell you at this time to what
+degree, other than it is going to be significant.
+ There are only two ways that you can deal with this. It is
+to control the demand, which is going to require fallowing, and
+land taken out of production, on top of all of the other things
+that we already are doing, which is conservation, water use
+efficiency, reuse, all of that. Or increase supply.
+ And Representative McClintock represented the situation
+fairly when he said it is just a matter of where the
+precipitation falls and the timing of the precipitation. So, in
+order to control that, we have to have additional storage.
+ Dr. Hice. I think your point is well taken. And it seems
+obvious to me that you are barking up the right tree, in terms
+of a solution.
+ One of you mentioned a while ago, someone briefly, about
+the Endangered Species Act. How has the Endangered Species Act
+complicated water rights? Or has it?
+ Mr. Diedrich. I believe that the solution is going to be a
+collaborative effort. I am in no way proposing that the
+Endangered Species Act be eliminated. What I propose is that it
+be managed and implemented in an equitable, scientific, and
+fair way.
+ I understand that collaboration is required between all of
+the stakeholders and the agencies. There are things that we can
+do that are non-flow projects that will increase habitat and
+increase the viability and the propagation of endangered
+species that don't have to do with water flow. Water flow is
+essential, obviously, but there are many other projects that we
+need to undertake to mitigate the harm to the endangered
+species.
+ I believe that some of the characterization today has been
+unfair, although I understand that this is going to be an
+effort that we all are going to be involved in. Mr. Nelson's
+problem, Mr. Ibach's problem, and our farm problem are all very
+much related.
+ Dr. Hice. I thank each of our witnesses. Thank you for your
+answers, and I yield back.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Hice. The Chair now recognizes
+Mr. Costa for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Costa. I thank the Chairman and the Ranking Member. I
+think this topic is an important part of this Subcommittee's
+jurisdiction, and one that we will continue to work on for this
+Congress.
+ Clearly, the sustainability of our water resources, not
+only for California, but for the West and for our Nation, are
+really a determiner as to whether or not the world can deal
+with the challenges of climate change and the impacts of water
+availability for the sustainability of not only our Nation, but
+the world. That is really what is at risk here.
+ And many of you who I have worked with over the years know
+that I like to make a reference to using all the water tools in
+our toolbox, because there is not, I don't think, one single
+solution, but it is a combination of strategies and
+collaborations, as Mr. Diedrich was suggesting, I think.
+ Let me quickly get to a couple of questions here. Mr.
+Diedrich, you stated in your written testimony--and you
+restated it just a moment ago--that environmental interests,
+fish and wildlife agencies, and water managers set
+scientifically-based priorities and to be held accountable in
+the efforts to manage those. And, of course, water flow is a
+key component. No one denies that. But could you elaborate more
+specifically on what kinds of things you think would be helpful
+in increasing fish populations in this effort?
+ Mr. Diedrich. A lot of that work is going on right now,
+today. Public water agencies that fly farm water are very much
+engaged. There are projects--anybody that is interested, they
+can Google Floodplain Fatties. Right now, we are flooding rice
+fields to mimic the flood plain to produce food for salmon
+smolt. That is a project that we are collaborating with. And we
+are dropping root balls into certain areas of the river to
+provide habitat and cover for the salmon smolt to protect them
+from predators. There is a tremendous amount of work that is
+ongoing today to identify the stressors that are in the system
+that are affecting the endangered species.
+ Mr. Costa. I appreciate that. Let me go on, because there
+are a lot of examples, as you noted, and others that I would
+like to submit for the purpose of the hearing that are
+collaborative efforts that we should acknowledge.
+ Mr. Ibach, the impacts of your fishing communities are
+heartfelt, and I know of them from my colleagues. They are very
+similar to the stories that we have had during the height of
+the drought in our farm-working communities, where we have had
+unemployment levels as high as 40 percent, and close to 50
+percent. So, the drought has had mutual negative impacts.
+ When we look at the impacts of climate change, sea levels
+rising, the impacts of water temperatures--and you noted on the
+Sacramento River--and we had a great debate in the last year--
+between 56 and 57 degrees temperature on the cold water pool
+behind Shasta. I have seen historical maps of the Pacific Coast
+up to the Canadian border, up to Kamchatka Peninsula on salmon
+runs. And clearly, climate change is going to impact,
+notwithstanding our best efforts, would you not agree?
+ Mr. Ibach. Yes. I agree that climate change definitely
+plays a role, as well.
+ Mr. Costa. I mean, there are multiple factors in this. We
+have more population, we have rivers down the coast far below
+San Francisco that no longer provide the fishery resource that
+they used to because of a whole combination of factors and
+decisions that were made. Is that not the case?
+ Mr. Ibach. Yes, it is multiple factors. But one of the key
+main factors is water. Salmon need water----
+ Mr. Costa. No, I understand. But 40 years ago, we had 20
+million people in California. Today, we have 40 million people.
+By the year 2030, we are going to have 50 million people. I
+wish I could do something about that. Actually, I have. I have
+not contributed to that population growth.
+ [Laughter.]
+ Mr. Costa. But the fact is it continues, so we have to deal
+with the reality.
+ Mr. Udall, the law of the river--I studied a lot, your
+father was involved--do you think that is going to have to be
+revisited on the Colorado when California gets its water
+resource from Northern California, from the Colorado, and from
+the east side of the Sierra? One of the seven states. What is
+your thought?
+ Mr. Udall. There is a terrific opportunity with the
+negotiations that come up next year to redo the 2007 interim
+shortage sharing guidelines. And I think we have to look at
+every aspect of the law of the river during that 6-year period.
+ Mr. Costa. My time has expired, Mr. Chairman. But
+obviously, this is a discussion that we need to continue. And
+your opening comments about attempting to try to put aside some
+of the politics that have made dealing with these issues
+difficult and providing solutions, I welcome, and I will work
+with you.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Costa. The Chair now recognizes
+Mr. Fulcher for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. A question for Mr.
+Diedrich.
+ In my state of Idaho, I get feedback from our stakeholders
+quite frequently in regard to who really is making the
+decisions on water management. And as you know, the Western
+States Water Council--I think it is position 425--says that the
+state is to be the primary decision maker, or more local, on
+how the allocation, administration, and management of that
+water is to be handled.
+ In reality, because of ESA--at least the stakeholders in my
+state frequently come to me and argue that, hey, look, that is
+really not what is happening here.
+ So, (a) are you in line with that? Do you see some of those
+conflicts? And (b) if so, what types of reforms to ESA do you
+think we need to make, in order to allow more local control of
+administration of that water?
+ Mr. Diedrich. That is a very difficult question. I believe
+that many of our stakeholders feel the same. It is a very
+complicated system, where the state and the Federal cooperate
+with the Federal agencies. In California, we have some very
+powerful state agencies--we have a California State Endangered
+Species Act also. Everybody has to collaborate on making
+decisions on operation of the system. So, we need inter-agency
+and collaborative effort. They all need to work to the same
+goal.
+ One of the things that would be helpful, I believe, is the
+FISH Act. I believe that if we can get Fish and Wildlife to
+have the anadromous fish species that are in commerce under one
+roof, it might be helpful.
+ Mr. Costa. Would the gentleman yield?
+ Mr. Fulcher. Yes.
+ Mr. Costa. I think the point that Mr. Diedrich is making is
+important. And not that California is always a good example,
+because we have our own challenges, I believe.
+ But Mr. Diedrich, we have been through this, you and I, for
+a long time. But if you could give some perspective to the
+gentleman as to that collaborative effort over the last 10
+years, the last 5 years, a descriptive as to whether it is
+getting better, worse, or the same.
+ Mr. Diedrich. Well, I think certainly 5 years ago we had
+issues with--we had section 7 of the Endangered Species Act,
+for example, where we are managing each species individually.
+And a lot of the times what is good for one is not good for
+another. And if they are at a conflict, it is a problem. We
+have that problem with smelt and with salmon.
+ So, we just feel like if we could get this all in one
+house, it might be managed a little bit more effectively.
+ Mr. Costa. Do you think the collaboration is getting better
+or worse?
+ Mr. Diedrich. I think it is--I went on a Delta tour
+recently, and I was hopeful. I think some of this Biological
+Assessment and this activity that is going on right now with
+the President's memo is a good thing. It is going to help----
+ Mr. Costa. I thank the gentleman for yielding.
+ Mr. Fulcher. Yes. Thank you, Mr. Costa. So----
+ Mr. Huffman. Reclaiming your time, Mr. Fulcher?
+ Mr. Fulcher. I am, thank you, and just more of a statement
+than a question at this point.
+ Mr. McClintock made a statement about the economic impact
+of the Ag. community--versus the fish and that component,
+economically. As I close up my amount of time, I need to echo
+that sentiment for my home state.
+ And I would also like to point out that we have made some
+pretty good progress with salmon flows. Frankly, it has been
+our Native American population and the fisheries and hatcheries
+that have been very integral in developing and managing, and
+they have helped bridge that gap.
+ But to think for a moment that we can sidestep the economic
+engine of our entire state by breaching and those types of
+things, we just simply have to find a smarter way.
+ So, Mr. Chairman, thank you. And Mr. Costa, Mr. McClintock,
+the panel.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you. The Chair recognizes the gentleman
+from Orange County, Mr. Levin--Orange County being a place
+where they actually drink highly treated wastewater as part of
+their baseline water supply. And it looks pretty healthy, looks
+pretty good.
+ Mr. Levin. I have consumed it myself, Mr. Chairman, and I
+have lived to talk about it.
+ I wanted to thank you for holding this hearing. As many of
+my colleagues here on the dais know, California has a
+complicated water system that faces sustainability challenges,
+given our changing climate. Snowpack is projected to lessen as
+the climate warms, and the state will see a larger percentage
+of its precipitation in the form of rain.
+ With these changes and our continually growing population
+in mind, we must consider how to make our water resources more
+sustainable and reliable for our population centers.
+ In my district, in North San Diego County, in South Orange
+County, we have a number of projects that are moving our
+communities toward a sustainable future. I am pleased to say
+that the Bureau of Reclamation recognizes the value of those
+projects, and that the Doheny Ocean Desalination Project and
+the expansion of Oceanside's Mission Basin Groundwater
+Purification Facility are set to receive a combined $11 million
+from Reclamation. Together, these projects will increase access
+to locally sourced, great, clean drinking water.
+ I am proud that the water agencies in my district are
+building toward the future in a way that will allow them to
+more sustainably manage their water supply. I am also
+encouraged that we are finally having a long-overdue discussion
+on climate change, and how it relates to water supplies.
+ To Mr. Udall, as a scientist who studies the impact of
+climate change on water supplies, you may have seen reports
+that President Trump plans to establish a group at the White
+House to review climate science. The group would be led by
+William Happer, a physics professor who has no formal training
+as a climate scientist.
+ In November 2017, Mr. Happer said--and I quote--``It is not
+as though if you double CO2 you make a big
+difference. You make a barely detectable difference.''
+ Mr. Udall, do you think Mr. Happer's statement is
+scientifically accurate? And how would you respond to his
+assertion?
+ Mr. Udall. That statement is not scientifically accurate.
+ When Chevron tells us that the Intergovernmental Panel on
+Climate Change is right, as it recently did, and when Exxon
+decides we need a carbon fee, I think the debate is over on
+whether or not this issue is a real issue, and we need to do
+something about it.
+ Mr. Levin. Another quote from Mr. Happer in March 2016. He
+said, and I quote, ``I am trying to explain to my fellow
+Americans the serious damage that will be done to us and,
+indeed, to the whole world by cockamamie policies to save the
+planet from CO2.''
+ As a trained climate scientist, sir, how would you respond
+to that?
+ Mr. Udall. It is not correct.
+ Mr. Levin. Finally, in November 2015, Mr. Happer said, and
+I quote, ``If plants could vote, they would vote for coal.''
+ As a trained climate scientist, how would you react to
+that?
+ Mr. Udall. CO2 does, in fact, fertilize plants.
+But it causes a whole series of other problems, which we are
+now experiencing, including 50-plus inches from Hurricane
+Harvey, of which 40 percent was due to climate change.
+ Mr. Levin. I appreciate your good work on behalf of
+evidence and climate science. And I would hope that others
+would acknowledge the overwhelming scientific consensus. And
+hopefully that will happen eventually in the White House, as
+well.
+ With that, Mr. Chairman, I yield back my time.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you. The Chair now recognizes the other
+gentleman from the Central Valley, Mr. Cox, for 5 minutes.
+ Mr. Cox. Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. Thank you,
+everyone, for being here today.
+ There is probably no place that feels effects of climate
+change greater than the Central Valley of California. We have
+seen it in our shorter winters, our hotter summers, reduced
+precipitation, and certainly in the unreliability of our water
+supply. And our Nation's water supply has been clearly impacted
+by climate change in my district, in California's Central
+Valley, as Mr. Nelson well knows and previously testified.
+ Everyone, from our farmers, our ranchers, and, most
+importantly, our rural communities, have been severely impacted
+by California's last drought and the ongoing lack of water
+supply and access.
+ Water supply reliability is an issue that affects every
+other issue. You can't talk about health care without talking
+about lack of access to clean drinking water. You can't talk
+about job security, you can't talk about economic growth, or
+the stability of our communities without talking about a
+reliable water supply and long-term water storage. And the
+reality of it is that our way of life is completely determined
+by our access to reliable and clean drinking water.
+ And this isn't a partisan issue at all. We must find
+compromise and smart solutions to address our water supply
+reliability. That is why we were elected to Congress, that is
+why we sit on this Committee today, and it is why we are here
+today.
+ So, with that, I have a few questions.
+ Mr. Nelson, rural communities, as you pointed out, are
+especially vulnerable to running out of water during times of
+drought. They often rely on groundwater wells that tend to be
+relatively shallow. In recent years, many communities in my
+district have literally run out of drinking water and have had
+to rely on emergency bottled water deliveries.
+ What specific impacts have you seen in the communities you
+serve in California from the drought?
+ Mr. Nelson. Thank you for that question. It manifests as a
+human catastrophe. I mean, just imagine going home and having
+to take your children to a community portable shower in a
+trailer. That is the reality.
+ There are also, as already has been pointed out, economic
+impacts. How can we expect our communities to thrive, when we
+can't provide something as basic and fundamental as safe
+drinking water?
+ That is a public health crisis of our time, and it needs to
+be addressed.
+ Mr. Cox. Mr. Ibach, you said something that kind of piqued
+my interest. And if you could provide a little bit more color.
+When you said, ``what Congress must do in order to save the
+Central Valley from itself,''--could you give me a little more
+explanation on that statement?
+ Mr. Ibach. I think that goes right along with the other
+communities.
+ Another community that we failed to mention was that the
+inland community around the Sacramento River also relies on
+salmon, as well. There is a large portion of people, small
+communities up and down the entire river system, that benefit
+with more salmon in that river.
+ Mr. Cox. I appreciate that. But how does that go back to
+the Central Valley saving itself from itself? I mean, I am
+still unclear what you meant by that. I am not trying to put
+you on the spot or anything like that, but it is----
+ Mr. Ibach. I think that the point I was trying to make
+there, is that we need to further have better water management,
+all together. And we do need to work together. And the Central
+Valley, I think, obviously, needs to put--in my personal
+opinion--a lot more effort into our salmon stocks, because we
+are a dying industry.
+ It has almost been a nail in the coffin for our industry
+and for a lot of people. So, I just can't emphasize enough how
+bad we need water to really help salmon for----
+ Mr. Cox. Well, fair enough. And I could tell you that the
+people I represent, the Ag. community, the rural communities,
+we are all looking for a collaborative approach, so it is not
+fish versus farms.
+ And I think Mr. Diedrich could probably speak a little bit
+about that, with some of the conservation efforts that you are
+taking. And, if you wouldn't mind, providing a little more
+color around some of the things that you do.
+ Mr. Diedrich. Absolutely. One of the things Representative
+Napolitano had asked earlier was about whether or not we are
+engaged in reuse. And I would like to address that, because we
+are.
+ There are some very large water supply projects, where we
+are taking the same water that Orange County is drinking and
+putting it back in the Delta-Mendota Canal. And we are using it
+for irrigation water, so we are using every available tool in
+the toolbox, as Representative Costa mentioned earlier, to try
+to produce a reliable water supply so we can continue to
+produce a safe and affordable food supply. So, absolutely.
+ Mr. Cox. Thank you so much.
+ Mr. Huffman. And Mr. Cox, just for what it is worth, I took
+that statement about saving the Central Valley from itself to
+mean that, in the absence of better water management, we will
+continue to see chronic groundwater overdraft, and the need for
+infrastructure repairs, and other things.
+ But maybe at some point we can go into more depth into
+that. I think that there is a broader explanation of what that
+might mean.
+ Mr. Cox. Yes. Frankly, it wasn't a loaded--I wasn't trying
+to make a point. I was just really trying to understand the
+context of the statement.
+ Mr. Huffman. Absolutely. Well, let's do this. We are going
+to close now, and I thank the witnesses and the Members for
+their engagement.
+ But one of the things I would like to do before we do that,
+Mr. Gosar, who, I believe, is on this--no, he is not on this
+Subcommittee, but he has been in the past. He has this little
+thing when he chaired this Subcommittee, where he would close
+by asking each witness, in 1 minute or less, to say what is the
+question you were not asked that you wish you had been asked,
+and see if they can just close out with that 1 minute or less.
+ Let's do that, starting with Mr. Ibach here on the end, and
+we will give Mr. Udall the final word. One minute or less, what
+do you wish you had been asked, and what would you have said?
+ Mr. Ibach. I really wish I would have been asked more about
+the impacts on our fishery, honestly, and the people that I
+represent. The fishing community has been in peril. We heavily
+rely on salmon in a big way. And I wish I could just have more
+time to elaborate on how bad our situation is in the fishing
+industry.
+ A lot of salmon rivers, 80 percent of the water is taken
+away from salmon rivers, rivers that have salmon in them. That
+leaves a remaining 20 percent. I just can't emphasize enough
+how bad we have been struggling, and how bad we need this
+water. Water going to the ocean is not being wasted. That water
+going to the ocean is a crucial key factor for the survival and
+the longevity of keeping salmon around, which we need.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Diedrich, what do you wish you
+had been asked, and what would you have said, in 1 minute or
+less?
+ Mr. Diedrich. Well, I don't know if it hasn't been asked,
+but I have a few other things I can say. The issue for
+California agriculture is, obviously, the Central Valley,
+California overall, produces a safe and reliable food supply.
+ And we believe that it is a national security issue, not
+only in the economic dollars involved with our production, but
+having the control of our own food supply, and having it be
+safe, and have it being produced under a highly regulated,
+sustainable system. There is no doubt that our water supply
+reliability is a prime factor in our ability to do that. And in
+order to produce a reliable water supply, we are going to have
+to deal with many, many other issues.
+ Ag. has done its part in water conservation, water use
+efficiency--today we produce more food per drop of water than
+we ever have. We have increased our production incredibly. We
+take advantage of every door that we see open. Every tool
+available, we take advantage of.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you.
+ Mr. Diedrich. I just ask that this Committee do their work,
+do their job, and encourage Federal agencies and Federal water
+management to cooperate with the state and all the regulatory
+agencies.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, sir.
+ Mr. Willardson?
+ Mr. Willardson. I think I would emphasize the collaborative
+nature and the difficult choices that we are going to have to
+make, moving forward.
+ I would mention, on the Endangered Species area and
+changes, Governor Kempthorne of Idaho--then Senator--and now
+the Western Governors, have a long list of recommendations for
+addressing endangered species.
+ I would also point out that farmers are fishermen. Being in
+Utah, we do have some kokanee, but I don't fish much for
+salmon. But I used to fish for trout. I think finding these
+economic and environmental balances are important.
+ And Representative McClintock, one of my first papers 40
+years ago, when I went to work for the Council, was on
+conservation. It does not create new water. But it is something
+that we have to look at. And it can be expensive.
+ These are very site-specific issues. I live in the Salt
+Lake Valley. Utah is the second-highest per-capita water user,
+next to Nevada, in the West. And in Salt Lake City, I live next
+to the mountains, where we get our snowpack. Our supply is the
+snowpack. We don't have to move it through large canals, as
+they do in California. We don't have to treat it much. We live
+on lots, and we all have large families, which contributes to
+that.
+ They are in the process of beginning to discuss metering my
+secondary water system, which I now have. And I pay a lot less
+than when I was using municipal water to irrigate my property.
+ But it is really site-specific when you look at
+conservation, when you look at water supply, and you look at
+the costs and benefits. And we have to do that in a
+collaborative manner, recognizing everyone's needs.
+ Mr. Huffman. Thank you, Mr. Willardson.
+ Mr. Nelson?
+ Mr. Nelson. Thank you, Chairman. One question that comes to
+mind is how do we secure every American's basic human right to
+water?
+ As I have already shared, this is a public health crisis.
+It is happening under our watch. It is an environmental justice
+crisis. And because of climate change, it is only going to
+become more of a challenge.
+ So, as already has been mentioned, we do need more funding
+for water infrastructure. But to go back to this concept of a
+portfolio approach, we would say that it needs to be a smart,
+protective, and environmentally just portfolio approach. And we
+need to act not in the future, not in any other moment. We need
+to act right now. Thank you.
+ Mr. Huffman. Very good.
+ Mr. Udall, last word.
+ Mr. Udall. My question is what is the risk if the Colorado
+River Drought Contingency Plan is not put into place. And the
+risk is, if we empty Lake Mead, all bets are off. Water rights
+are meaningless at that point. We will have no rules for how
+this system operates. And the Federal Government will be in
+charge of allocation decisions, which should scare everyone.
+And they will be making these decisions without full
+understanding of the consequences. The DCP has to get across
+the finish line.
+ Mr. Huffman. Very good. Well, thanks again to all of the
+witnesses. This hearing has helped spotlight some of the
+challenges we will have to manage now, and in the years to come
+to secure our Nation's water supply. This Subcommittee will
+work hard and thoughtfully to craft policy solutions that
+promote water supply reliability for all affected stakeholders.
+And I thank our witnesses for joining us to inform that
+important work.
+ Members of the Committee may have some additional questions
+for the witnesses, and we will ask you to respond to these in
+writing if that is the case.
+ Under Committee Rule 3(o), members of the Committee must
+submit witness questions within 3 business days following the
+hearing, and the hearing record will be held open for 10
+business days for these responses.
+ If there is no further business, without objection, the
+Committee stands adjourned.
+
+ [Whereupon, at 11:27 a.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]
+
+ [ADDITIONAL MATERIALS SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD]
+
+Submission for the Record by Rep. Cox
+
+ Statement of the South Valley Water Association
+ The South Valley Water Association (SVWA) consists of nine
+irrigation districts that wield water for agriculture within the
+Central Valley Project's (CVP) Friant Division. SVWA represents more
+than 400,000 acres of the world's most productive farmland in the
+southern end of the Great Central Valley of California. Farmers in SVWA
+grow a diverse group of agriculture commodities including: cotton,
+grapes, oranges, and a variety of different nuts and dairy products.
+ Collectively, the SVWA irrigation districts deliver up to 1 million
+acre-feet of water annually to farmers in the Central Valley.
+ Water supply reliability in the San Joaquin Valley will require
+robust state, Federal and local investment in infrastructure, along
+with coordinated and balanced approaches to water management to ensure
+that one of the world's most productive agricultural regions can
+continue to provide good jobs and safe, affordable food to all of the
+United States.
+ subsidence
+ Subsidence is an issue that plagues the entire state of California
+but nowhere are the impacts as visible as in the San Joaquin Valley.
+Because of subsidence, the Friant-Kern canal, which relies entirely on
+gravity to deliver water to communities and a total of 1 million acres
+of farmland, has lost roughly 60 percent of its carrying capacity, as
+the canal has literally sunk into the ground creating pinch points
+upstream of some of the largest users of water. These pinch points
+prevent the efficient movement of water and have caused severe economic
+impacts.
+ As the state of California moves toward implementation of the
+Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), the inability to
+efficiently move water through the Friant-Kern canal creates
+significant hurdles as it limits the ability to move water from
+Millerton Lake through to the southern end of the Friant service area.
+This part of the San Joaquin Valley has significant groundwater
+recharge potential, but it can only be fully realized if the
+infrastructure exists to deliver water during times when excess flows
+are in the system.
+ The double-sided impact of subsidence is not just the inability to
+deliver irrigation and recharge water and gain the resulting benefits,
+but also that the diversion of that water into the Friant-Kern Canal is
+also part of mitigating flood impacts on the levy systems below Friant
+Dam.
+ Subsidence is also not limited to just the Friant-Kern Canal. In
+2017, the levies of the lower Kings River had sunk enough that flood
+releases threatened the communities of Huron and Tranquility. Scenarios
+like that will continue to play out in the San Joaquin Valley until the
+impacts of subsidence are addressed.
+ multi-benefit projects
+ Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley will inevitably have to fallow
+land in order to reduce groundwater demand and meet the requirements of
+SGMA. Because of this, SVWA has developed a unique partnership with The
+Nature Conservancy (TNC) to advance multi-benefit land retirement
+projects. SVWA and TNC are in the process of implementing a strategic
+land retirement program to ensure that land retirement is done in a way
+that minimizes impacts to disadvantaged communities and creates
+ecosystem benefits. A scattered approach to land retirement will have
+severe socio-economic impacts and limit habitat connectivity. The
+program will identify lands for fallowing based on their habitat
+potential and will create habitat connectivity in a region that has
+historically been characterized by a checkerboard of farmland and
+habitat.
+ Strategically retiring and restoring parts of the farming landscape
+to natural habitats, as opposed to leaving them fallow and unused or
+converting them to houses or industrial uses, could significantly
+increase the potential for recovery of dozens of endangered species in
+the San Joaquin Valley.
+ Restoring former agricultural lands to natural habitats can also
+deliver other environmental benefits that provide tangible services for
+farmers and San Joaquin Valley residents. Restored lands can be a
+reservoir of abundant native pollinators needed for crop production and
+natural enemies of agricultural pests which can reduce the pest burden
+in many crops. Reducing the agricultural footprint may also help reduce
+air quality problems that are leading to chronic human health issues in
+the San Joaquin Valley, like high rates of asthma. Retiring and
+restoring targeted agricultural areas will create the possibility of
+reducing overall nitrate loading in groundwater over time that
+currently affects rural communities and contributes rates of birth
+defects that are higher than state averages. Further, it could also
+significantly contribute to helping the state meets its 2030-2050
+targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions a potential source of
+funding for landowners and water agencies to help defray the costs of
+lost production and restoration.
+ healthy ecosystems
+ SVWA recognizes that healthier fisheries lead to more reliable
+water supplies and that the two are not mutually exclusive. Farmers
+versus fish is a counterproductive approach that only fosters
+division--the traditional paradigm that more flows lead to more fish
+hinders progress. Science shows that efforts to improve fish
+populations should focus on habitat restoration, predator control and
+functional flows--flows at the right time and place, rather than
+additional requirements for minimum instream flows. Efforts to
+reactivate floodplains for fish in the Sacramento Valley have shown
+incredible promise and should be replicated on the Lower San Joaquin
+River.
+
+ ______
+
+
+Submission for the Record by Rep. Napolitano
+
+ U.S. House of Representatives,
+ Committee on Natural Resources,
+ Washington, DC 20515
+
+ August 28, 2009
+
+Mr. Kenneth Salazar
+Secretary of the Interior
+U.S. Department of the Interior
+1849 C Street NW
+Washington, DC 20240
+
+ Dear Mr. Secretary:
+
+ As chair of the Subcommittee on Water and Power, I have grave
+concerns I felt I must share with you. Please forgive the lengthy
+explanation; I felt it must be given.
+ Drought in California is polarizing the state, taking up valuable
+time and resources resulting in considerable debate and finger-pointing
+as to who/what to blame. Thank you for recognizing that the issue is
+big enough and requires you dedicating high level staff to addressing
+the problem.
+ The quandary we face is to both reduce demand and increase supply.
+Historically, water developers have focused on increasing the size of
+the water pie. Developing new water supply takes years to accomplish
+(fifteen years by the Governors own estimate), costs billions of
+dollars, presently lacks public consensus, public and political will,
+and united support. Addressing the water equation by reducing demand
+has already resulted in extensive efforts in Southern California to
+reduce water consumption (local regulations), improving conservation
+efforts (low flow toilets and shower heads) and educating the public
+(PSA's and notices in water bills). This has lessened impacts, but as
+the population continues to grow and the drought continues, the demand
+will increase beyond what conservation alone can provide.
+ The California Congressional delegation is a diverse group. One
+thing that we all agree on is that the water crisis in California is
+significant, requires leadership and development of a solutions
+portfolio that builds upon our abilities to confront problems, and uses
+our innovation and ideas to mobilize the resources necessary to
+addresses the issues. Some of us have been giving the California water
+issue serious review and determined that the Subcommittee needed to
+explore options.
+What Does a Water Solution Look Like?
+ Over the past two months I have had the Water and Power
+Subcommittee staff director, Dave Wegner, researching the issue and our
+potential roles. I have been briefed on initial findings and we will be
+briefing the subcommittee upon our return in September. We are offering
+our full assistance to address the long, mid and short-term actions
+that can be taken to develop water solutions for California and, by
+learning from these efforts, provide opportunities for the rest of the
+Western United States. Our concern is that the drought of the last
+three years may continue into 2010, possibly further. We need to
+implement actions now that will provide the ability to let the
+Department focus on the long-term solutions.
+ Solutions to the California water crisis must be based on a
+diversified and dynamic approach, allow for appropriate planning and
+permitting that will ultimately allow delivery of water in a timely and
+cost effective manner. There is no one single ``silver bullet'' that
+will solve the water crisis. The challenge we face is to develop a
+cooperative approach that cumulatively will yield a diversified
+portfolio and strategy that will result in increased supply, reduced
+risk, and improved water security, sooner rather than later.
+ It is indisputable and imperative that discussions and efforts
+directed at long-term solutions continue. At the same time, we must
+recognize that when creating new water from large water projects, all
+parties and all interests are defined by an immutable rule: the last
+dollar must be spent to get the first drop of water. The bottom line is
+that until we spend the last construction dollar, no one gets the first
+drop of water from any of these proposed projects.
+ In the course of our research, we have asked state water leaders
+when new water supplies could be brought on-line, addressing the
+question, when does California achieve that ``first drop?'' The answers
+range from 2020 to 2030, depending on a plethora of unknown factors. In
+reality the year doesn't really matter. The point is there is no
+immediate construction action that can be taken to create new water.
+ Creating solutions to water demands must incorporate a range of
+ideas and approaches. Water managers must continue to explore, and
+analyze long-term solutions associated with the Delta, evaluating new
+water sources, including storage and conveyance. At the same time, it
+is equally imperative that a plan be adopted to address our immediate
+challenges.
+The Goal: Creating 1 MAF of Water for California in the Near Term
+ Let me reiterate again Mr. Secretary, we want and are anxious to
+work with the Department on a portfolio of solutions for the water
+crisis in California. We want to look for solutions and approaches
+where Congress and the Administration can work collaboratively on
+solutions. As Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Water and Power, I
+submit the following recommendations for immediate actions on your
+part, to address challenges to the California water crisis. Each is
+based on the concept of stretching existing water supplies in order to
+increase the amount of available water and does not require new
+legislation, only strong and decisive leadership.
+(1) Bureau of Reclamation to establish a 1 Million Acre Foot new water
+ program
+
+ Grow new water in the State--throughout the State
+
+ Create, in the next 48-60 months, 1 MAF of new water
+ annually
+
+ Develop this new water without regional water user or
+ environmental conflict
+
+ Accomplish this objective utilizing the Bureau's Title XVI
+ program, identified by the Commissioner on July 21, 2009,
+ as part of Reclamation's core mission. (We agree with the
+ Commissioner's statement made before the Subcommittee and
+ believe that by working with 0MB we can develop support for
+ funding.)
+
+(2) Bureau of Reclamation to establish a ``Farmer Helping Farmer''
+ Irrigation Efficiency Initiative
+
+ Make funds available to water districts, water agencies
+ and individual irrigators to invest in on-farm irrigation
+ efficiencies to stretch our existing available irrigation
+ water. These funds could come from the Reclamation Rural
+ Water Program and other funding vehicles identified in
+ previous legislation.
+
+ Consistent with CVPIA and Reclamation law, allow districts
+ or irrigators to sell, rent or lease water savings to other
+ irrigators.
+
+ Implement improved and less bureaucratically cumbersome
+ transfer incentives for farmers and water districts to
+ allow the efficient and timely movement of water from and
+ through existing facilities.
+
+(3) Bureau of Reclamation to establish ``Water Conservation''
+ Initiative for urban and rural water districts
+
+ Make funds available to water districts, water agencies
+ and others as appropriate to invest in conservation efforts
+ (i.e. irrigation methods, scheduling, land leveling, etc.)
+ that stretch existing water supplies. These funds could
+ come from the Reclamation Rural Water Program and other
+ funding vehicles identified in previous legislation.
+
+ Consistent with CVPIA and Reclamation law, allow districts
+ and/or irrigators to sell, rent or lease water saved to
+ others.
+
+ The objective of these recommendations is to stretch the water
+supplies we have. In the short term, we have adequate water supply to
+meet the needs of the State of California. What is lacking is the
+bureaucratic ability to efficiently move water, incentives for water
+right holders to allow for the efficient use of water, and leadership
+to address how to get it done.
+ We can implement programs here and now to create 1 MAF of new water
+annually through Title XVI, and supplement that initiative with
+projects to stretch existing supplies throughout the State--from our
+cities to our farms.
+
+ Recommendations requiring action:
+
+
+ The Interior Department and Bureau of Reclamation submit,
+ urgently, a $250 million budget amendment to the Bureau of
+ Reclamation's budget for FY 2010 adding funds in the
+ following amounts:
+
+
+ Title XVI.................... $200 million
+ Water Efficiency (Farmer-to- $ 25 million
+ Farmer).
+ Water Conservation Initiative $ 25 million
+
+
+ OMB, Interior, the Administration, and others as
+ appropriate and necessary, work with the House Budget
+ Committee, Appropriations Committee, Energy and Water
+ Appropriations Subcommittee, Natural Resources Committee,
+ and the Water and Power Subcommittee to implement this
+ prior to when the Energy and Water Appropriations bill for
+ FY 2010 is finalized in conference. Concurrently,
+ coordinate with the appropriate Senate committees and
+ subcommittees.
+
+ The Title XVI funds should go to develop a new generation
+ of projects--throughout the State. The objective is to (a)
+ fund projects not funded by the Stimulus Program; and (b)
+ underwrite at least 40 congressionally approved new
+ recycling projects. Today, projects throughout Southern
+ California--in LA, San Diego, Riverside, Orange and San
+ Bernadino Counties are on track to develop approximately
+ 500,000 acre-feet of new water annually. This program will
+ double that--to produce 1 MAF of new water annually and do
+ so within 48-60 months.
+
+ While California puts 1 MAF water into service and on-line, long-
+term plans can proceed with the efforts of the Department of the
+Interior leading toward actions. California can manage our way through
+this challenge rather than be overwhelmed by it. When the day arrives
+where California runs short of water, the direct and indirect costs
+will be measured in billions and the bureaucratic stress will increase
+exponentially. We need to act now and act in a concerted, strategic
+approach.
+What can be done immediately?
+ Congress has provided tools so we can begin work now to resolve the
+water crisis. First, the Title XVI water recycling and water
+reclamation program can be the centerpiece of a constructive solution.
+As a result of investment in it, new wet, not paper, water can be
+created and placed in service throughout the State. Recycled water
+developed throughout California relieves pressure on the Delta, and, in
+turn, helps water districts and water users in the San Joaquin Valley,
+particularly those on the West Side, who have junior water rights and
+water entitlements.
+ A $200 million investment in Title XVI automatically leverages an
+additional $600 million from the water districts and financial lenders.
+By law and policy, water districts are eligible for a 25% cost-share,
+not to exceed $20 million. This is the most cost-shared water resources
+program in the Federal Government. This investment stimulates new
+business, puts people to work, develops green jobs, produces 1 MAF of
+new water annually and helps the State manage its way through this
+water crisis.
+ The bottom line to the Water and Power Subcommittee is that we
+believe that Congress has given the Department tools to address the
+California water crisis. We believe that solutions must include near,
+mid and long-term actions. And finally, we believe that cooperatively
+we can work with the Department to strategically plan for and implement
+actions that will result in water in the faucet, will work with local
+water districts, will put people to work, and will provide leadership
+in addressing long-term water planning and production.
+What we would like to Suggest.
+ We respectfully request a sit down meeting to discuss these ideas
+with you, identifying what we can do to work with the Department in
+meeting the water needs of California, and doing so in a cost effective
+and environmentally sensitive manner. We look forward to your favorable
+reply and meeting with you in September. Please contact the Water and
+Power Subcommittee or myself to set up the meeting.
+
+ Warm Regards,
+
+ Grace F. Napolitano, Chairwoman
+ Water and Power Subcommittee
+
+ *****
+
+ ATTACHMENT
+
+Supporting Justification for Proposal Suggestions
+
+This request is consistent with:
+
+ Bureau of Reclamation Feasibility Study on Water Recycling
+ in Southern California
+
+ Bureau of Reclamation Feasibility Study on Water Recycling
+ in the Bay Area
+
+ State of California Task Force on Water Recycling
+
+ DWR's Bulletin 160
+
+ MWD and SAWPA approved programs
+
+ Other?
+
+Water Recycling Benefits
+
+ Consistent with stimulus objectives
+
+ Creates green jobs
+
+ Provides for continuity of construction jobs in counties
+ most impacted by the recession
+
+ Relieves pressure on the Delta, short-term and long-term
+
+ Consistent with reduced energy and lower carbon objectives
+
+ Provides drought relief
+
+ Consistent with climate change policy objectives
+
+ Develops new water supplies (and does so without
+ generating political conflicts)
+
+ Projects can be designed, approved, funded, constructed
+ and operated within a short time
+
+ No other alternative can produce 1 MAF as quickly or
+ efficiently.
+
+Farmer to Farmer Initiative Benefits
+
+ Allows farmers to develop and implement solutions locally
+
+ Can be accomplished with days, weeks and months . . . all
+ short term
+
+ Proven technologies can be applied to modernize and
+ improve water management locally
+
+ Maximizes flexibility to local districts and irrigators
+ within their immediate regions
+
+Conservation Initiative Benefits
+
+ Fastest and least expensive way to ``create'' new water
+
+ Urban water agencies have a demonstrated capacity
+
+ ______
+
+
+Submission for the Record by Rep. Van Drew
+
+ Congress of the United States,
+ House of Representatives,
+ Washington, DC 20515
+
+ February 26, 2019
+
+Hon. Raul M. Grijalva, Chairman,
+House Committee on Natural Resources,
+1324 Longworth House Office Building,
+Washington, DC 20515.
+
+ Dear Chairman Grijalva:
+
+ Please excuse my absence for today's Water, Oceans and Wildlife
+Subcommittee hearing on ``The State of Water Supply Reliability in the
+21st Century'' due to a family emergency.
+
+ Sincerely,
+
+ Jeff Van Drew,
+ U.S. Representative,
+ New Jersey--District 2
+
+ [all]
+