Posted February 20, 2013
California Governor Jerry Brown is urging Congress to
find a compromise that will benefit drought-stricken areas in California and
around the country, according to a Capital Press article available here.
Brown’s reference to “political bickering involved a
drought measure proposed by three Central Valley Republicans that was approved
by the house last week largely along party lines.”
H.R.
3964, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act, would
repeal some of California’s authority over its Central Valley, “rolling back
the Central Valley Project Improvement and the Endangered Species Act in vital
water areas.”
The bill would: turn on the Delta pumps this year and
next year to capture future rain events; end restoration flows in the San
Joaquin River for this year and next year in order to stop wasting water; and
establish a bipartisan, emergency joint committee from the House and Senate to
devise a long-term legislative solution.
For more information on this bill, a recent post from this blog is
available here.
In response, California Senators Dianne Feinstein and
Barbara boxer, both Democrats, proposed legislation that would give $300
million in emergency aid and drought relief projects, upgrading city water
systems and water conservation. The full
text of the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, S. 2016, is
available here.
While Brown’s administration supports the bill proposed
by the Democrats, “he is doing what he can to find middle ground.”
President Obama recently visited the drought-affected
areas, directing USDA to accelerate programs that would aid drought efforts,
according to an Agri-Pulse article available here.
For more information on water law, please visit the
National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
