Governor calls GOP legislation an “an unwelcome and divisive intrusion”

by Brian Leubitz

The GOP really thinks the drought is good for them politically. Problem is, there isn’t that much that can really be done to ease the effects, other than a rain dance and monkeying around with precedence of water users.

But the GOP wants to be seen as doing something, so Speaker Boehner flew to the Central Valley for a photo-op and to announce legislation that would change how water is used in the Central Valley. Because water distribution in the arid southwest is a dizzying array of federal and state law, that could mean tossing a flaming bag of dog feces into the mix of already complicated water precedence. But, the folks with power in the districts that elected the California Republicans are generally big ag interests, the GOP Congress members have their marching orders. Bring water back to Big Ag.

So, the legislation they introduced in late January would do that in the short term, and try to gin up support to get more water for Ag in the long term. The short term solution is to just keep pumping until there is no more water to pump. Tough luck salmon!

There are no cheap or easy solutions for that long-term question, but they are trying to score points by pointing at the Senate. Trouble is, in reality, both of our Senators have been working on this issue for a long time, and have an opinion on the so-called Senate inaction. In fact, they already wrote a letter to the President outlining a real plan for action:

The state’s other senator, Barbara Boxer, was less charitable in her assessment of the proposal, saying in a statement that it was “old ideas that ignore many of the stakeholders counting on a real solution to this devastating drought.”

Boxer urged Republicans to support a three-point plan she and Feinstein outlined in a letter to President Obama. The proposal calls for appointment of a drought task force and a drought coordinator to work with a similar state-level effort, calling for a broad federal disaster declaration, and urging the Obama administration to direct federal agencies to expedite water transfers and infrastructure improvements. (Fresno Bee / John Ellis)

But Governor Brown made his thoughts on the bill crystal clear in a letter to the ranking members of the House Natural Resources Committee:

“H.R. 3964 is an unwelcome and divisive intrusion into California’s efforts to manage this severe crisis,” Brown wrote. “It would override state laws and protections, and mandate that certain water interests come out ahead of others. It falsely suggests the promise of water relief when that is simply not possible given the scarcity of water supplies.”(SacBee Capitol Alert

This legislation won’t create rain, but rain (and snow in the mountains) is really the only real solution that can provide actual relief. (Oh, and the state recently halted the San Joaquin River restoration water diversion, so there goes that part of it.)

But, the attention is nonetheless necessary. A panel of experts (and hey, maybe including some scientists would help) would be a good start on how to address the long-term health of the Central Valley agricultural environment. Let’s face it, there are some very deep systemic concerns for the future water needs, but let’s see if Boehner comes back during a rainy season when the photo opportunity isn’t as politically advantageous.