Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the water conditions facing California as I have for many times over the last 6 years. Today, obviously, we have recent storms that we welcome in California. Over the past several days, my district has received above- average rainfall and snow in the mountains; and we welcome that. But also that presents flood conditions. After over 5 years of record-breaking drought conditions, of course, we welcome the rain and snow; but there is also destructive flooding that is occurring as a result of that. Regrettably, to reduce this potential flooding, we are having to let this water go out to the ocean. This precious water could be extremely beneficial to farmers, farmworkers, and farm communities in the dry years. But, of course, we can't store it because the storage is not there. This water could be used to replenish groundwater aquifers that were depleted during these drought conditions and could be carried over for ground storage for use in dry years. This water could help ensure that farming communities would not continue to deal with double-digit unemployment levels that we have had to face over the last 6 years. It is why we need to invest more in the water storage projects in California, both surface storage and groundwater recharge, like raising the gates at Exchequer Dam, building Sites Reservoir and Temperance Flat Dam.…”