Jared Huffman: “I thank the gentlewoman. Some of our colleagues from other States may be experiencing a sense of deja vu right now. Yes…”

“I thank the gentlewoman. Some of our colleagues from other States may be experiencing a sense of deja vu right now. Yes, this is the second time this year that the House has voted on a California water bill that would harm northern California fisheries, tribes, and communities; that would undermine State law; that would deprive water managers of the flexibility they need; and it would micromanage the complex water system of California. To make sure we are all dealing with the same facts, I want to remind my colleagues that the State and Federal water export pumps in the delta right now are operating at more than 5,000 cubic feet per second. The only reason they are not pumping even faster is not to protect fish and wildlife, not because of the Endangered Species Act, none of the other bogeymen that we hear as a justification for this bill. No, the reason those pumps are not going even faster is because of standards set by the State of California to protect water quality from municipal and industrial and agricultural and other uses in the system. So the only way that this bill could deliver more water today--well, there is no way it could deliver more water today--and the only way it could deliver more water in other times of the year is by taking it away from other water users and other beneficial uses in our State. With that inconvenient fact out of the way, let's talk about the process that brought us here today. H.R.…”