Rep. Calvert Joins California Colleagues in Introducing Water Legislation

Yesterday, Congressman Ken Calvert (CA-42) joined a bipartisan group of California lawmakers in introducing H.R. 5781, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014, which would provide short- term relief from California's water crisis.

"The recent rain storms and California's inability to effectively capture and store the rain water, highlight the need for Congress to act and pass common sense legislation that will provide some relief to our long-term drought," said Rep. Calvert. "House Republicans have repeatedly demonstrated that we are ready to find solutions to benefit the entire state, not just parochial parties. What we introduced in this temporary bill is a compromise, based on the Senate's water legislation, again showing our willingness to find consensus between the two chambers. We must act this Congress to provide some level of benefit to water users. Beyond doing just that, H.R.5781 also serves as a starting point towards building a permanent, comprehensive solution to address our state's water supply issues. I hope the House and the Senate can act quickly on this legislation."

H.R. 5781 was introduced by Rep. David Valadao (CA-21). In addition to Rep. Calvert, original cosponsors of the legislation include Reps. Kevin McCarthy (CA-23), Jim Costa (CA-16), Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), Tom McClintock (CA-04), and Devin Nunes (CA-22).

HR 5781 CA Emergency Drought Relief Summary

· Maximizing Delta Exports for Central and Southern California: Sets Old & Middle River pumping rates at -5,000 cubic feet per second, while allowing Federal regulatory agencies the discretion to reduce pumping under certain instances. This provision would help bring water that is desperately needed to Central and Southern California.

· Capture Storm Water Runoff Moving Through the Delta : Authorizes Federal agencies to increase Old & Middle River pumping rates during the first few storms of the water year. This provision would help bring water that is desperately needed to Central and Southern California.

· Promoting Federal Water Storage Projects in California: Requires the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to report to Congress in 1 year of enactment of this Act on the status of feasibility reports for various Federal water storage projects in California that have been pending for years. Increasing storage in California would allow for the capture of more water during wet years to store for use during dry years.

· Sacramento Valley Contractors: Includes language on water allocations for Sacramento Valley water contractors.

· Holding Federal Regulatory Agencies Accountable: Requires Federal regulatory agencies to report to Congress every 90 days following enactment of this Act on its implementation.

· Protections for Federal, State, Northern, Central and Southern California Water Contractors: Includes provisions to protect State Water Project contractors, Area of Origin water rights holders, and preserves the existing water rights priority systems in California and Federal law. Also includes language that prevents any adverse redirected impacts to any water contractor in California resulting from implementation of this Act.

· Immediate Emergency Relief: Provisions in this bill expire on September 30, 2016, or when the gubernatorial drought declaration is rescinded, whichever occurs later.

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