[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                     UNNECESSARY STUDY SHOULD STOP

                                 ______


                         HON. WILLIAM M. THOMAS

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. THOMAS of California. Mr. Speaker, I am introducing a bill to 
alert Secretary Babbitt and the California water users community of my 
intent and that of Congressman-elect George Radanovich to change the 
1992 reclamation law concerning the San Joaquin River. My bill shows 
our desire to work with the Secretary next year to swiftly amend a bad 
law so Secretary Babbitt can stop wasting taxpayer dollars studying 
potential water supply changes he has acknowledged are infeasible.
  This bill is needed because the so-called Central Valley Project 
Improvement Act of 1992 puts the Secretary in an untenable situation. 
The act forces him to develop a ``reasonable, prudent, and feasible'' 
plan to address fish, wildlife, and habitat concerns along with the San 
Joaquin River with an eye toward trying to reestablish anadromous fish 
runs. The plan is due by September 30, 1996 and it has to be backed up 
with documents meeting National Environmental Policy Act requirements. 
This study is already costing farmers money. Central Valley Project 
water from the Friant system costs an extra $4 per acre-foot because of 
the law.
  The Secretary has already said reestablishing a salmon run is 
infeasible and he is right. The fish are long gone. People occupy the 
valley now and it is the impact of reallocating water on the people 
which should determine what we do next. The Secretary's statement on 
October 21 was no different than the assessment of the thousands of my 
constituents who have appeared at meetings throughout the San Joaquin 
Valley to tell officials from the Department of the Interior exactly 
the same thing.
  Without help from Congress, the Secretary has to keep on studying 
something he knows will not work. Secretary Babbitt's staff has already 
said he has to keep the study going only because the law says so. His 
staff has even said environmental groups are threatening to sue the 
Department.
  The bill I am introducing solves the Secretary's problem. It ends the 
study. It ends the extra fees for water users and it blocks any 
reallocation of water from the Friant. The bill's introduction serves 
notice that I will work with water users next year to develop reforms 
that prevent the Department of the Interior from pursuing bureaucratic 
nonsense. I hope my colleagues in the House and the Secretary himself 
will work with me to put an end to the foolishness of an unnecessary 
study as soon as possible.

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