02.24.16

Hearing Wrap-up: House Republicans Use California Drought as Excuse to Gut the Endangered Species Act

Witnesses

  • Mr. Richard Pool, President and Owner of Pro-Troll Fishing Products, Concord, California
  • Mr. David Murillo, Mid-Pacific Regional Director of the Bureau of Reclamation, Washington, DC
  • The Honorable Brett Barbre, Director of the Municipal Water District of Orange County, Yorba Linda, California
  • Mr. Thad Bettner, General Manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, Willows, California
  • Mr. Tom Birmingham, General Manager/General Counsel of the Westlands Water District, Fresno, California

Key Takeaways

  • Hydrology – not water pumping restrictions – is the primary cause of drought and low water deliveries. According to some estimates, California is experiencing its worst drought in 1,200 years. Last year was the eighth of nine years with below-average runoff. Sierra snowpack measurements from last year (a major source of California’s water supplies) were the lowest levels of any year on record going back to 1950. Also, according to a studyreleased by NOAA and NASA, 2014 and 2015 were the warmest years on record in California.
    • Environmental protections have had a minimal impact on water supplies. In 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board estimated that only two percent of the runoff flowed to San Francisco Bay solely for environmental protection and could otherwise have been captured or diverted. The vast majority of the water in the watershed is captured, stored or diverted, or used for salinity control for farms and cities.
    • The water pumping reductions Republican Committee Members cite are frequently the result of water quality regulations that protect agricultural and drinking water supplies from increased pollution concentrations and salt water intrusion.
    • The small amount of water used to sustain California’s fisheries supports thousands of fishing industry jobs and businesses across the Pacific Coast.

Key Quotes

Subcommittee Ranking Member Jared Huffman:

  • “… [T]oday we have a partisan, one-sided hearing… simply about trying to score political points and pursuing an agenda my Republicans colleagues have pursued for many years now to weaken the Endangered Species Act, head and gut fishery protections that support thousands of jobs in my district and across the Pacific Coast, and redirect water from one region of the State to another.”
    • “Californians overwhelmingly oppose weakening the State’s environmental protections during the drought. What Californians do support in overwhelming numbers is boosting our water supplies though water recycling and reuse, stormwater capture, and improving water use efficiency.”
    • “[W]hen we’re done with the political games, I hope to work across the aisle to solve California's water problems through a thoughtful, science-based process instead of debating the same old proposals that create no new water and pit regions of the State against each other.”

Mr. Richard Pool, President and Owner of Pro-Troll Fishing Products:

  • “When Central Valley salmon runs are healthy, they support over 20,000 jobs in the state with an economic contribution of $1.4 billion dollars.”
  • “The drought impact on these salmon has been devastating. Some of the impact was unavoidable and some of it was man-made.”
  • “[Salmon] need adequate flows and temperature protections, as well as ambitious habitat restoration actions [to] recover.”
  • “The California Legislature has registered deep concern about the severe losses in the salmon populations,”  Senator Mike McGuire [said recently]. “These are truly desperate times. Imagine losing 75 to 100 percent of your annual income, and trying to survive. I cannot say this more bluntly. We are facing a fishery disaster in California and families who have relied on the mighty Pacific for their livelihood are on the brink.”

Press Contact

Media Contact: Diane Padilla

(202) 225-6065 or (202) 226-3522

Diane.Padilla@mail.house.gov