Boehner backs GOP bill to send water from delta to farms

House Speaker John Boehner talks about the drought in the Central Valley, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, during a news conference on farmer Larry Starrh's land, northwest of Bakersfield, Calif. State Sen. Jean Fuller is behind him. Boehner visited a dusty California field, joining Central Valley Republicans to announce an emergency drought-relief bill to help farmers through what is certain to be a devastating year. If passed, the bill that's already stirring controversy would temporarily halt restoration of the San Joaquin River designed to bring back the historic salmon flow, among other measures. Farmers want that water diverted to their crops. (AP photo/The Bakersfield Californian, Casey Christie) MAGS OUT ONLINES OUT TV OUT NO SALES less House Speaker John Boehner talks about the drought in the Central Valley, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014, during a news conference on farmer Larry Starrh's land, northwest of Bakersfield, Calif. State Sen. Jean ... more Photo: Casey Christie, Associated Press Photo: Casey Christie, Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Boehner backs GOP bill to send water from delta to farms 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Amid the worst drought in California's recorded history, House Speaker John Boehner stood in a bare dirt field near Bakersfield to declare his support for taking more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sending it to the parched farms of the Central Valley.

As the highest-ranking Republican in Washington, Boehner gave the GOP's national imprimatur to "emergency drought legislation" being drafted by Reps. David Valadao of Hanford (Kings County), Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Devin Nunes of Tulare.

The bill would increase pumping from the delta to farms, as long there is water available, through 2015. It would also halt efforts to reconnect the San Joaquin River to San Francisco Bay and to restore salmon runs, which have been made possible by increased releases from the Friant Dam.

McCarthy, who as majority whip is the third-ranking House Republican, said at Wednesday's press conference with Boehner that environmental restrictions "reduce our supplies when water is available in wet years, but exacerbate the negative impacts during years of drought."

Water wars

Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who wrote the 1992 law that increased water flows from the delta to restore salmon and other fisheries, said the GOP was "pulling the pin on the grenade" of California's water wars, rekindling a battle similar to the one that raged five years ago that pitted Bay Area Democrats against Central Valley lawmakers of both parties.

That 2009 fight came amid a confluence of forces that left the valley with Depression-era unemployment: a two-year drought, mass home foreclosures from the 2008 financial crisis, and a court ruling that cut water to farms by a third to restore the delta smelt, an endangered fish.

With farmers facing the possibility this year that they may receive just 5 percent of the water they have requested from the state Department of Water Resources, the GOP bill won a swift endorsement from Western Growers, the chief trade group of California farmers.

Its president, Tom Nassif, called for "very moderate and reasonable steps" that would allow regulators to pump more water to farms than they have in recent years. "We must capture water runoff when it is available and store it for the protection of our farms and communities," Nassif said in a statement.

Letting water go

Nassif blamed federal regulators for making things worse last year "by failing to pump and store more than 800,000 acre-feet of winter runoff" letting it run to the sea instead of storing it. An acre-foot is enough to cover 1 acre in 1 foot of water.

Although the GOP bill might be blocked by the Democratic-controlled Senate, lawmakers in both parties embraced the GOP lawmakers' call to establish a bipartisan House-Senate committee to come up with a long-term water plan.

Nunes, who called the farm water shortage a "man-made crisis," said the Senate's rejection of similar House efforts in the past "has now resulted in an emergency situation throughout California."

While endorsing a new planning process, Miller said the GOP effort to divert water to farms only makes compromise more difficult, given the magnitude of the current drought that is leaving the entire state short of water.

Bay Area vs. valley

"They're trying to raise the visibility of this supposed conflict between the economy and the environment, the Bay Area versus the valley," Miller said. He called it an effort to aid vulnerable incumbent California Republicans "that has little or nothing to do with water policy in the state.

"You can't build a water policy in California where an area the size of the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, the entire area here, is going to be a statewide sacrifice zone," Miller said.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who has angered Bay Area Democrats in the past by her efforts to increase water to farms, expressed concern that the GOP bill may follow a past pattern of trying to preempt state laws and waive the Endangered Species Act, which she said could "spur serious litigation and likely delay any action."

Feinstein said she is drafting her own drought legislation that she plans to introduce soon.

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