[env-trinity] Legislation to Destroy CVPIA

[Byron]

Destroy CVPIA.  Destroy ESA next?

A bill to override all state laws that apply to the San Joaquin River,
reduce federal payments into restoration funds, reduce payments by CVP
irrigators to the federal government, reduce water allocated to fish and
wildlife, reduce water for refuges, make federal water contracts permanent,
and so forth, has just been introduced in the Congress by Representative
Devin Nunes (R-Visalia).  If anyone wants a copy of the bill, let me know,
and I'll send it to you.

 

A statement about this bill by Hal Candee, Senior Attorney and Co-Director,
Western Water Project for Natural Resources Defense Council, appears below:

 

            STATEMENT ON REP. NUNES' CVPIA REFORM ACT OF 2005

 

By Hal Candee, Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council, 9-7-05

 

Congressman Nunes is trying to undo the most important federal law on
California water policy in over 20 years. His bill is a giveaway to
subsidized agribusiness in the San Joaquin Valley that would harm all other
Californians.  The bill will fail for the simple reason that there's no
turning back the clock on the state's new water needs. Millions of
Californians depend on clean drinking water and a healthy environment.
Agricultural interests can and must share this limited resource, despite
what Rep. Nunes suggests. 

 

This is an odd week for a Member of Congress to try to further weaken
federal water management.  Instead of turning his back on our fragile Delta
and gutting federal environmental laws, Rep. Nunes should be helping to
provide increased federal support for a clean and healthy Delta water
supply.

 

At a time when responsible officials in California are scrambling to help
our crashing Delta fish species, it is the height of cynicism for a
Congressman from the San Joaquin Valley to propose gutting the major federal
law designed to help the Delta and protect water quality for millions of
Californians.

 

Restoration of the San Joaquin River has been supported by numerous state,
federal and county officials, as well as Delta farmers, urban water users,
fishermen, and conservationists.  It may be that the agribusiness interests
in Congressman Nunes' district benefit directly from the massive diversions
at Friant Dam, but his bill to override all other laws in order to keep the
San Joaquin dry will hurt virtually every other part of California.  It is
hard to imagine the bill going anywhere.

 

The bill shields agribusiness interests and federal water contractors in
numerous ways, each time resulting in new burdens on the State and new
burdens on other State water users. It would be a windfall for the CVP - the
largest project in the state that has caused the most harm to our drinking
water and fragile environment; it would be a disaster for everyone else.

 

 

Byron Leydecker, 

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Consultant, California Trout, Inc.

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://www.fotr.org

http://caltrout.org

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20050907/7db80122/attachment.html>