[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 156 (Monday, November 8, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H11663-H11664]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       FACILITATING WATER TRANSFERS IN THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Madam Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass 
the bill (H.R. 3077) to amend the Act that authorized construction of 
the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project, California, to 
facilitate water transfers in the Central Valley Project, as amended.
  The Clerk read as follows:

                               H.R. 3077

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. ELIMINATION OF RESTRICTIONS ON USE OF SAN LUIS 
                   UNIT FACILITIES FOR WATER TRANSFERS IN THE 
                   CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT.

       (a) Elimination of Statutory Restrictions.--Public Law 86-
     488 (74 Stat. 156) is amended--
       (1) in section 2 by striking ``and the use of the 
     additional capacity for water service shall be limited to 
     service outside of the Federal San Luis unit service area''; 
     and
       (2) in section 3 by adding ``and'' after the semicolon at 
     the end of paragraph (h), by striking the semicolon at the 
     end of paragraph (i) and inserting a period, and by striking 
     paragraph (j).
       (b) Requirements for Delivery Inside Federal Service 
     Area.--Such Act is further amended--
       (1) in section 2 by inserting ``(subject to section 9)'' 
     after ``a perpetual right to the use of such additional 
     capacity''; and
       (2) by adding at the end the following:
       ``Sec. 9. The State of California may not, under section 2, 
     use additional capacity to deliver water inside the Federal 
     San Luis unit service area unless--
       ``(1) such delivery is managed so as to ensure that--
       ``(A) agricultural drainage discharges arising from use of 
     the delivered water--
       ``(i) comply with any waste discharge requirements issued 
     for such discharges; or
       ``(ii) if there are no such waste discharge requirements, 
     do not cause water quality conditions in the San Joaquin 
     River and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and San Francisco 
     Bay to be degraded or otherwise adversely affected; and
       ``(B) use of the delivered water for irrigation does not 
     frustrate or interfere with efforts by the United States and 
     the State of California to manage agricultural subsurface 
     drainage discharges from the San Luis unit; and
       ``(2) such delivery is consistent with those provisions of 
     operating agreements between the Secretary and the Department 
     of Water Resources of the State of California that are 
     consistent with this Act.''.
       (c) Amendment of Existing Agreements.--The Secretary of the 
     Interior--
       (1) shall seek to amend each agreement entered into by the 
     United States and the State of California under section 2 of 
     Public Law 86-488 before the date of the enactment of this 
     Act, as necessary to delete from such agreement restrictions 
     on use of additional capacity for water service for land in 
     the Federal San Luis unit service area that are not 
     consistent with the amendments made by this Act; and
       (2) pending such amendment, shall not enforce any such 
     restriction.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Doolittle) and the gentleman from California (Mr. 
Dooley) each will control 20 minutes.
  The Chair recognizes the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle).
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may 
consume.
  Madam Speaker, Federal agricultural contractors in the Central Valley 
Project of California who rely on exported water supplies from the 
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have seen substantial reductions in 
their Federal water supplies over the last several years, even though 
these last few years have been ``wet'' years. This reduction has been 
increased because of the accumulated impacts of implementation of the 
Endangered Species Act, the Central Valley Project Improvement Act, and 
the Bay Delta Accord.
  This reduction in CVP export supply reliability has increased the 
desire of many water managers to pursue water transfers. Additionally, 
numerous State laws and Federal laws have been enacted in an attempt to 
facilitate water transfers to assist agricultural and urban water users 
in maintaining reliable water supplies.
  The San Luis Act of 1960 prohibits the State of California from 
providing water service to the San Luis Unit of the Central Valley 
Project. The committee believes this prohibition is inconsistent with 
current Federal and State policies which encourage and facilitate water 
transfers.
  H.R. 3077 amends the Act of 1960 by eliminating the restrictions on 
use of San Luis Unit facilities for water transfers in the Central 
Valley. The gentleman from California (Mr. Dooley) is the author of 
this legislation, and in just a moment I am sure will add his 
explanation.
  This morning we received a letter from Governor Grey Davis of 
California in support of H.R. 3077.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
  Mr. DOOLEY of California. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as 
I may consume.
  (Mr. DOOLEY of California asked and was given permission to revise 
and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. DOOLEY of California. Madam Speaker, California's San Joaquin 
Valley is one of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. 
The lands that receive water from the San Luis Unit of the Central 
Valley Project are especially productive. Farmers here are highly 
dependent on reliable deliveries of surface water in order to sustain 
crop production in the valley.
  But even in the best years, water supplies from the Central Valley 
Project are often limited. Many farmers in California now improve the 
reliability of their water supplies by working out water transfer 
arrangements with other water users so that the limited supplies can be 
moved around and used more efficiently. But farmers in the San Luis 
Unit cannot freely participate in these transfers because the San Luis 
Act of 1960 prohibits the State of California from providing water 
service to the San Luis Unit. I believe this restriction makes it 
unnecessarily difficult for San Luis Unit farmers to take advantage of 
water supplies that might otherwise be available to them. I also 
believe this restriction in Federal law is outdated and inappropriate. 
H.R. 3077, as amended, will address these problems by eliminating the 
restriction on delivery of water from the State of California to lands 
within the Federal San Luis service area.
  This is significant legislation affecting water management in 
California. Its effect will be to allow the delivery of water from 
California's State Water Project to lands within the San Luis Unit. The 
State of California operates the State Water Project, and Governor 
Davis, as the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle) cited earlier, 
has advised me and others that he supports enactment of H.R. 3077, as 
amended.
  Madam Speaker, I include the Governor's letter of November 5, 1999 at 
this point in the Record.

                                          Governor Gray Davis,

                                 Sacramento, CA, November 5, 1999.
     Hon. Cal Dooley,
     House of Representatives,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Dooley: I am writing to advise you of 
     my support for H.R. 3077, which you recently introduced along 
     with Representatives Gary Condit, George Radanovich and Bill 
     Thomas.
       As you know, H.R. 3077 would authorize water users in the 
     San Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project (CVP) to purchase 
     water

[[Page H11664]]

     supplies from the State Water Project (SWP). The bill amends 
     the San Luis Act of 1960, which prohibits water transfers 
     between the SWP and users in the San Luis Unit of the CVP.
       Given the likelihood of water shortfalls in the future, I 
     believe that voluntary transfers will become an increasingly 
     important water management tool to address future supply 
     needs. Your legislation is consistent with current state and 
     federal policies aimed at encouraging voluntary water 
     transfers and will likely play a key role in facilitating 
     such transfers. In addition, in furtherance of state and 
     federal policies to encourage water transfers, it is 
     appropriate to remove barriers that might otherwise restrict 
     transfers between the two projects.
       I also support Representative George Miller's recent 
     amendment to H.R. 3077 that conditions the transfer of water 
     between the SWP and the San Luis Unit on measures to prevent 
     irrigation drainage problems or degradation of water quality. 
     I am pleased that you and your colleagues on the House 
     Resources Committee were able to reach agreement on this 
     language during the recent markup session.
       As the legislation moves through the House in the closing 
     days of this year's session, please let me know if I can be 
     of assistance.
           Sincerely,
                                                       Gray Davis.

  An important issue raised by any proposal to provide additional 
supplies of irrigation water to the San Luis Unit is subsurface 
drainage. Discharges of subsurface agriculture drainage from the San 
Luis Unit contributed to the deaths of hundreds of waterfowl at the 
Kesterson Reservoir site in the mid 1980s, and, while farmers and water 
districts in the San Joaquin Valley have made great progress in recent 
years, drainage management in the San Luis Unit continues to be a 
critical and unresolved issue.
  I had the opportunity to participate with Secretary Babbitt just 
yesterday in doing a tour of the San Luis Unit and had the chance to 
see some of the terrific work that the water districts are doing there 
in order to try to manage their drainage water.
  The Committee on Resources accepted an amendment on this subject 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. George Miller), the 
senior Democrat on the committee. The gentleman from California's 
amendment would allow the State to deliver water to the San Luis Unit 
only after specific requirements have been met to protect water 
quality.
  The purpose of the Miller amendment is to ensure that irrigation 
water deliveries from the State Water Project to the Federal San Luis 
Unit service area are carefully managed and are not directed to lands 
that are known to contribute to agricultural drainage problems with the 
resultant adverse effects on water quality in the San Joaquin River, 
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, or San Francisco Bay. I was pleased 
to accept the gentleman from California's amendment during the 
committee's consideration of H.R. 3077. Governor Davis' letter also 
expresses his support for this amendment.
  Madam Speaker, San Luis Unit farmers are the only farmers in the 
State of California who must farm under an outdated legal restriction 
that prevents them from supplementing their water supplies. H.R. 3077, 
as amended, will correct this inequity and will encourage responsible 
water use and cooperation among California water users.
  I urge my colleagues to support the enactment of H.R. 3077, as 
amended.
  Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

                              {time}  1500

  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Madam Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from 
California (Mr. Radanovich), a cosponsor of this legislation.
  Mr. RADANOVICH. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman from California 
for yielding me this time.
  As a cosponsor of H.R. 3077, I want to express my support for this 
bill on the floor. As we all know, water is a precious commodity in the 
State of California and particularly in the great Central Valley. I 
have seen the extra mile that water users in this area have taken to 
conserve water. This is not enough, however, because their water supply 
reliability has been significantly reduced and no certainty in supply 
is on the horizon for California agriculture and urban water users.
  The Central Valley has a long agricultural history, producing over 
250 of California's crops. With its fertile soil, temperate climate, 
and water supply capabilities, the Central Valley produces 8 percent of 
the agricultural output in the United States, on less than 1 percent of 
our Nation's farmland. Valley farmers grow nearly half of the fresh 
fruits and vegetables grown in the entire Nation.
  At the same time, the Central Valley is the fastest growing region in 
the State, placing an ever-increasing demand on its urban water 
requirements. While agricultural and urban water demands are often in 
competition with one another, neither can be provided for unless a 
reliable supply of water is made available. Long-term environmental and 
habitat restoration needs of the Central Valley ecosystem must also be 
addressed, squeezing still more water out of a dwindling supply. 
Currently, under the CVPIA, over one million acre-feet of water is 
provided for environmental purposes each year.
  The demands for agricultural, environmental and urban water uses in 
the great Central Valley are endless. Since water is directly tied to 
the economy, any disturbance in its supply will almost certainly result 
in the loss of jobs and agricultural production. By the year 2020, a 
net loss of 2.3 million acre-feet of water is projected for 
agricultural use. This is unacceptable and irresponsible. The impact of 
such a decline would be devastating. Thus, an adequate water supply 
should and must be secured.
  For these reasons, I am a cosponsor of H.R. 3077. This measure gives 
water users the ability to obtain water from the State of California by 
facilitating water transfers at the San Luis Unit. Currently, the San 
Luis Act prohibits the State from allowing water to go through the San 
Luis Unit of the Central Valley Project. This will be corrected under 
H.R. 3077 and some of the tremendous strains on water supplies in the 
State will be alleviated.
  Again, I support this bill and urge its passage.
  Mr. DOOLEY of California. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of 
my time.
  Mr. DOOLITTLE. Madam Speaker, I urge an ``aye'' vote and I yield back 
the balance of my time.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mrs. Biggert). The question is on the motion 
offered by the gentleman from California (Mr. Doolittle) that the House 
suspend the rules and pass the bill, H.R. 3077, as amended.
  The question was taken; and (two-thirds having voted in favor 
thereof) the rules were suspended and the bill, as amended, was passed.
  A motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

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