House Dems call for transparency on drought negotiations

E&E News
By Debra Kahn
June 24, 2014

California Democrats are objecting to negotiations between the House and Senate over the state's drought conditions, saying that any compromise with House Republicans risks hurting Northern California and environmental interests.

Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) and five other Northern California Democrats wrote a letter yesterday to the state's Democratic senators, Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, asking them to make public their negotiations with House Republicans over a set of bills aimed at getting more water for farms and cities during the state's punishing drought.

Feinstein's bill, S. 2198, passed the Senate last month under a "hotline" procedure that allows a floor vote without any prior hearings. It would dictate that federal agencies have to operate massive water pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to maximize water deliveries to farms and cities farther south. The delta is the main hub of the state's water system, supplying 25 million people and 700,000 acres of farmland.

While Feinstein's bill specifies that agencies are to comply with the Endangered Species Act protections for delta smelt and chinook salmon, the House bill, H.R. 3964, would bypass the biological opinions protecting the fish under the ESA, which control operations of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project when the fish are at risk (Greenwire, May 23).

The House Democrats pointed to H.R. 4239, by Huffman, as a potential alternative. It contains $473 million for a wide array of programs, including water conservation, water quality, drinking water, fire risk reduction and assistance to migrant farm workers (E&E Daily, March 14).

"The House majority has already demonstrated their intention to irresponsibly override state water law and decades of federal protections for clean water, fisheries, and northern California tribes, farms, and cities -- all to benefit a select few," the House lawmakers wrote. "Our constituents are rightly concerned about a closed-door approach that picks winners and losers amid California's statewide drought, and they deserve a public discussion of the merits of the legislation being considered."

Huffman was joined by Reps. George Miller, John Garamendi, Jerry McNerney, Doris Matsui and Mike Thompson. The lawmakers also referenced the House's draft energy and water appropriations bill, which contains a rider that would divert money that California water users pay for wildlife protection and allow them to use it to buy water to get through the current drought.

Feinstein responded, vowing to uphold endangered species and clean water protections during negotiations. She said she would have preferred more funding in her bill, as well, but that it would not have passed muster with Senate Republicans.

"I personally would prefer a bill with emergency spending, just as you would," she said in a letter to Huffman yesterday. "But if we are going to reach an agreement that can be enacted into law, we are going to need to compromise on emergency spending, just as the House Republicans will need to compromise on protecting environmental laws." She did not say whether negotiations would be made public.