Political Quotes

“Mr. Chair, I yield to the gentleman from California (Mr. McNerney). Mr. McNERNEY. I thank the gentlewoman from Ohio. Mr. Chair, I just want to follow up on a few things. We talked about water that goes out to the ocean as being wasted. Again, the delta is becoming more salty every year. We have been exporting 70 percent of the freshwater that comes to the delta. The saltwater has been intruding. We need the freshwater to push out that saltwater for the fishermen who live up and down the coast. I feel for the farmers who are in the south part of the valley--it is devastating; it is horrible--but we also see the same thing happening with fishermen on the north coast. Basically, we are doing the same thing that has been done historically. At Owens Valley, we are going to take water from one part of the State, and we are going to give it to another. We are going to benefit one part, and we are going to hurt another. That is not the way to do business. We can find comprehensive solutions that include infrastructure investments, recycling, WaterSMART projects. There are ways to create new water. We don't have to keep grabbing water from one another to grow fruits and vegetables or to have fishermen survive on the north coast.”