Doris Matsui: “My friend on the other side is trying to distract the public on what their bill actually does. H.R. 3964 would not…”

“My friend on the other side is trying to distract the public on what their bill actually does. H.R. 3964 would not provide any relief from the real drought, but it would instead permanently reallocate water for one interest. {time} 1615 Mr. Chairman, the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act designated 800,000 acre-feet of water for environmental purposes. This water is important. It is used to balance our water needs between urban, agricultural, and environment. This so-called ``b2'' water was dedicated to help stem the rapid decline of the delta ecosystem. H.R. 3964 repeals the ``b2'' water allocation in the CVPIA unless 800,000 acre-feet of additional capacity is found by 2018. Who is going to make up the 800,000 acre-feet by 2018? As written, the bill would relieve the south delta CVP users of any responsibility for the environmental water. Instead, it would attempt to shift the responsibilities to northern California, putting into jeopardy senior water rights holders in northern California. Mr. Chairman, my district, the city of Sacramento, and Sacramento County wrote letters stating what we all know. This is a backdoor attempt to undermine longstanding California water rights and let one interest jump to the head of the line. In short, this bill is another blatant water grab from northern California. Mr. Chairman, my amendment will protect senior water rights holders in northern California and assure we are all in this together in California.…”