Valley Water Districts Offer Support for Denham Predation Bill

Press Release

Since introducing the SOS Act of 2016 in February, U.S. Representative Jeff Denham (R-Turlock) has received support from water districts and organizations across the Valley focused on delivering water to families and farms. Rep. Denham's bill, which eliminates the counterintuitive doubling requirement for predator fish created by the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), is scheduled for a hearing in the House Natural Resources committee next week.

Agencies in support of Rep. Denham's SOS Act include the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), Friant North Authority, Friant Water Authority, Kern County Water Agency, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Modesto Irrigation District (MID), the Northern California Water Association (NCWA), Oakdale Irrigation District (OID), San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, SJR Exchange Contractors, South San Joaquin Irrigation District (SSJID), South Valley Water Association, the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority (TCCA), Turlock Irrigation District (TID) and Westlands Water District.

"This bill is common-sense," said Rep. Denham. "These supporting organizations and water districts know the ins and outs of providing water to Valley families and farms and have seen firsthand the impact of our devastating drought. They recognize that the current law is counterproductive because it requires the doubling of federally protected endangered fish while also requiring the doubling of the very non-native predator species that hunt them. Ultimately, this means less water for people and more dead fish."

Rep. Denham has previously introduced two other pieces of predation-related legislation: a bill to establish a pilot program to study predator fish on the Stanislaus River in 2013, and an amendment to make salmon and steelhead recovery plans more effective by ensuring focus on predation control efforts in 2015. Both years, his legislation passed the House.

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