California Water Allocations

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Mr. VALADAO. Mr. Speaker, after years of exceptional drought, California is in a second consecutive wet year. Every major reservoir in our State is above the 15-year average, and our snowpack in the Sierras is at more than 100 percent of average for this time of year.

This is all good news, but even with the current abundance of water, the South-of-Delta farmers are still not allocated 100 percent of the water they contract and pay for. This is unacceptable.

Central Valley Project contractors rely on meaningful allocations from the Bureau of Reclamation for their yearly planning, including the types of crops they will plant and when.

California grows a quarter of the Nation's food, and these allocations are critical to the fate of our Nation's food supply.

My farmers and communities have endured disproportionately low water allocations for many years, with contractors receiving well below their contracted supply even during wet years.

I urge the Bureau of Reclamation to increase these allocations for South-of-Delta water contractors to reflect the record wet year that we are seeing right now. Our ability to grow food for the Nation will not survive without reliable water supply for South-of-Delta agriculture.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source