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GovTrack.us is an independent tool to help the public research and track the activities in the U.S. Congress, promoting government transparency and civic education through novel uses of technology.
April 2, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) - Displaying
a bowl of minnows and
pictures of unemployed
farmworkers and their
families, California
congressmen pleaded with
their colleagues Tuesday,
March 31, to make an
emergency exception to the
federal Endangered Species
Act.
The lawmakers said efforts
to protect a 3-inch-long
fish, the Delta smelt, have
led to court-ordered
reductions in the amount of
water pumped to some farmers
in the San Joaquin Valley,
leading to fallowed fields
and skyrocketing
unemployment.
They said even as a drought
enters its third year, there
is enough water in
California to share with the
valley's thousands of farms.
Their proposal would
increase the diversion of
water for those farms.
In 2007, a federal judge
ordered federal and state
water authorities to reduce
the amount of water they
pump through the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
in a bid to protect the
Delta smelt. The
finger-length fish is
considered a bellwether for
the health of the delta, the
heart of California's
water-delivery system.
Speaking before the House
Natural Resources Committee,
several of the state's
lawmakers discounted the
drought as the reason for
the San Joaquin Valley's
lack of water.
Rather, they said it was a
matter of priorities, with
the government valuing fish
over families.
Rep. Dennis Cardoza,
D-Atwater, said thousands of
families were moving out of
his district. He called the
exodus the "Dust Bowl
migration in reverse."
Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia,
said the unemployment rate
in his district is nearly 20
percent and is nearing 50
percent in some communities.
"We're not asking for a
billion-dollar bailout.
We're aren't even asking for
one single dollar," Nunes
said. "All we need is for
this committee to move
emergency legislation which
would allow the Delta pumps
to return to historic export
levels."
Nunes, in pointed comments
to the House committee,
described the plight of his
constituents in the most
dire terms. He said the
committee has been silent on
the issue for two years.
"Failure to act, and it's
over," he said. "You will
witness the collapse of
modern civilization in the
San Joaquin Valley."
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