Jim Costa: “I would like to first thank the Rules Committee chairman, and the ranking member, Ms. Slaughter, for making my amendment…”

“I would like to first thank the Rules Committee chairman, and the ranking member, Ms. Slaughter, for making my amendment in order. Mr. Chair, groundwater storage is a central element of drought resilience in the San Joaquin Valley and throughout California. Recharging our groundwater that has been overdrafted is critical in terms of our overall strategy to use all the water tools in our water management toolbox. California's hydrological cycle is varied, with each year's intense rainfall and flooding like this year followed by prolonged periods of droughts like the previous 5 years. As a matter of fact, in California, it is either feast or famine. We don't have enough or we have too much water. This varied hydrological cycle means that regions like the San Joaquin Valley rely heavily on groundwater to supply regional water needs during the dry years, and that is how the overdraft takes place. An attempt to refill that pumped water during wet years comes all too infrequently. The recent record drought, coupled with previous droughts and policy changes that have led to shifting of water supplies from agriculture water uses to environmental uses over the last 25 years, has literally resulted in ground sinking beneath the feet of the people of the San Joaquin Valley.…”