As Chairman of the Water and Power
subcommittee, Congressman Tom McClintock of the Northern California’s District
4 developed a bill with his Republican committee members and brought it to the
House floor for a quick discussion and vote.
McClintock’s bill steps way beyond
established water rights in California and asks to give the Secretary of
Interior, a Federal Agency, authorization to issue water contracts and to give
that agency “supremacy” instead of the
Bay-Delta Planning Commission.
This will be a first – the Federal
government having supremacy over the State’s Rights to manage their own
water.
Water is unique to the local
environment and essential to the community around that water, therefore water
has always been a matter held by the State.
But HR 1837 introduced by McClintock will make California the first
exception.
Back in December 2010 when the
Republicans took control of the House, McClintock was appointed to Chair the
Natural Resources subcommittee, Water and Power.
That's when Westlands Water
District, which consume more than 700,000 acre feet of the water pumped out of
the delta, refused to agree to "not sell" the water they were given
and walked away from California’s Bay-Delta Plan only turn to McClintock’s
committee along with $14,575 in campaign contributions
McClintock held his first committee
meeting on February 2, 2011 but it did not go well. Newly elected Congressman John Garamendi from
Walnut Creek also new to the Subcommittee was familiar with the Delta issues
back when he served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Interior Department during
Clinton’s administration.
Garamendi exploded, questioning
McClintock’s logic in presenting a bill like this that would undermine his own
district's “Water of origin rights."
He repeatedly asked McClintock if the people in his district knew what
he was doing.
McClintock whose district includes
one-third of Northern California’s Watershed for the Bay-Delta water pulled the
Bill back for reconsideration and on February 29 presented the Bill again. But this time he brought it to the House
floor for a 30 minute discussion and quickly voted on it.
McClintock tried to reassure
Garamendi and other members of the House that California will ‘not lose their
water rights.’ McClintock emphasized the
Bill’s words that says the Secretary (Federal Level) will oversee “Long-Term”
water contracts “Under the terms and conditions mutually agreeable to the parties.”
But who are the agreeable
parties? According to McClintock’s own
words the water contract “is negotiated anew between the government and the
contractor.”
Section 4 (1) of the Bill
specifically says “The Federal Government, require assertion of Federal
supremacy to protect existing water rights throughout the system.” That leaves
California out of the “mutually agreeable” part. Would California really want someone in Texas
or Georgia deciding California’s water rights?
McClintock’s efforts to fight for
the Kern and Kings county farmers are not going unrewarded. McClintock received more than $12,000 in
campaign donations from Fresno County and an additional $11,475 in the last
couple of months from the Crop Production Industries based in Westland Water
District, according to OpenSecrets.org.
Since this is such an unprecedented
step to take water rights from the states, Subsection (2) was added: “These
circumstances are unique to California.
Therefore nothing in this act shall serve as ‘Precedent’ in any other
state.”
This statement gave little
reassurance to five other states that border the Colorado River. They sent “Letters of Objection” to be added
to the long list of letters already attached to the bill, which include every Northern
California county and the hundreds of Northern California Agribusinesses that
will be impacted by this bill.
Not only would the bill give
California’s water rights away, it would also give the Kern and King County
water districts 40% of the delta water right off the top, leaving the Northern
counties struggle with any environmental issues and Northern California
agribusinesses to fall victim to the demands of the Tracy pumps.
The Bill sits in the Senate and
Republican Senators are talking about attaching it as an amendment to another
bill to get it passed.
