Letter to the Honorable Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Interior and the Honorable Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce

Letter

Dear Secretaries Salazar and Locke:

This letter is to follow-up with you in regards to your recent announcement to launch an interagency plan to better integrate science in California's Bay-Delta. This announcement is welcome news to us and to the farmers, farmworkers, and farm communities of California's San Joaquin Valley that we represent. As you know, water equals jobs in the Valley and your commitment to working with us and related federal, state, and local agencies are producing results, increasing the water allocation to 40% for South of Delta agricultural water users, up from 10% last year. We are grateful for your efforts.

Recent events continue to shed new light on California's water crisis, including findings by the National Academies of Sciences, the University of Maryland and University of California Davis, as well as this week's decision by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California that the agencies violated the National Environmental Policy Act when they adopted the June 2009 biological opinion for the protection of salmonid species and that the National Marine Fisheries Service failed to base its decisions on the best available science and failed to provide scientific justification for certain actions prescribed by the biological opinion. Given what is at stake, we strongly encourage you to act expeditiously to analyze these findings and incorporate new science into water operations for Delta exports for this water year. As you know, decisions by the agencies to restrict water deliveries to California's San Joaquin Valley without considering the human health and the safety of the human environment have devastated the Valley's economy and persist to this day even as more rain and snow continues to fall throughout the state.

This emergency still exists, and every additional drop of water that we can secure by holding ourselves to the highest scientific standards is essential. We look forward to continuing to partner with you as we seek to find short, mid, and long-term solutions to California's water challenges and thank you in advance for your prompt response.
Sincerely,

Jim Costa
Member of Congress

Dennis Cardoza
Member of Congress

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