[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 10, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S823-S825]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 2533. A bill to provide short-term water supplies to drought-
stricken California and provide for long-term investments in drought 
resiliency throughout the Western United States; to the Committee on 
Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to speak about the 
historic drought that is devastating California and much of the West.
  To help address this disaster, today I am introducing the California 
Long-Term Provisions for Water Supply and Short-Term Provisions for 
Emergency Drought Relief Act.
  Let me begin by saying that the El Nino we're seeing now in 
California brings with it some good news.
  The Sierra Nevada snowpack is the deepest it has been in 5 years, and 
water content is up.
  The California Department of Water Resources reported in early-
February that the statewide snowpack stands at 25.4 inches, or 130 
percent of the historical average.
  But we are faced with three problems.
  First, one El Nino--even a strong El Nino--won't be sufficient to 
pull us out of this drought. Experts say we need at least 3 consecutive 
years of above-average precipitation.
  Second, we lack the infrastructure needed to store much of this 
water. We need to do more to increase the amount of water we can hold 
from wet years to dry years.
  And while river flows are extremely high from these winter storms, we 
are not taking advantage of them to the extent we should.
  What that means is tens of thousands of acre-feet are flowing out 
into the Pacific Ocean rather than being collected for later use.
  So while California is getting some much-needed rain, it's not likely 
to be enough to end this historic drought.
  Let me be clear; this drought is hurting California.
  Mr. President, 69 communities are facing significant water supply and 
water quality issues, 2,591 wells are critically low or dry affecting 
some 13,000 residents; California's economy lost $2.7 billion from the 
drought in 2015.
  The agricultural sector lost approximately $1.8 billion from the 
drought in 2015, exceeding the $41.5 billion loss in 2014.
  More than 1 million acres of California farmland were fallowed in 
2015, an increase of more than 600,000 acres over 2011.
  Since 2014, the drought has led to 35,000 permanent jobs lost in 
California, 21,000 seasonal and part-time agricultural jobs have also 
been lost.
  Farmworkers cannot find employment and are forced to move in with 
family members or friends who are also struggling.
  Some single mothers are traveling as far as Washington State for work 
to help support their families.
  Land subsidence from pumping too much groundwater has caused large 
areas of the San Joaquin Valley to sink by as much as two inches per 
month. As a result, bridges, aqueducts and roads have already begun to 
crack.
  Mr. President, 50 million large trees are dead or likely will die 
from lack of water, and another 888 million trees experienced loss of 
canopy cover since 2011.
  These are just some of the many examples of the dreadful effect the 
drought is having on California.
  The bill I am introducing today includes a wide range of provisions 
to address two key needs:
  First, long-term solutions. In addition to helping the many 
communities that are running out of water, we must create a new water 
infrastructure that is not as dependent on annual levels of rain or 
snow. That is why the bill includes many programs to promote long-term 
drought resiliency.
  California is now home to 40 million people, but is relying on State 
and Federal water infrastructure first constructed in the 1960s when 
California's population was just 16 million.
  The Central Valley Project and the State Water Project were completed 
in the 1970s, and neither have kept pace with the rapid growth in 
California's population or economy.
  Put another way, California's major water infrastructure has remained 
largely unchanged for the past 40 years while California's population 
has more than doubled.
  To address this, we must come up with long-term solutions to address 
these water infrastructure gaps.
  This must include investments in water storage projects, desalination 
plants and water recycling projects, as well as programs to assist 
vulnerable communities, fund research and support ecosystem 
restoration.
  In addition to those long-term solutions, the bill would also provide 
short-term, temporary solutions which are limited to the duration of 
the Governor's drought declaration or two years, whichever is longer.
  These provisions will help make the water-delivery system more 
efficient during this current drought, and they will do so without any 
mandated pumping levels.
  Under this bill State and Federal officials will continue to 
determine appropriate pumping levels, and all short-term operations 
must comply with existing applicable laws.
  Let me repeat: there are no mandated levels of pumping in this bill.
  Let me briefly discuss how this bill will help California and the 
positive impacts it will have west-wide.
  Over the past 2 years, my staff and I have gone through an extensive 
consultation process with both State and Federal agencies.
  We have worked through every proposal or suggestion we received from

[[Page S824]]

those agencies and all are incorporated in the bill I am introducing 
today.
  On the Federal side, we worked with the Department of the Interior; 
Department of Commerce; Bureau of Reclamation; U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers; Fish and Wildlife Service; NOAA Fisheries; and the White 
House Council on Environmental Quality.
  On the State side, we worked with the California Natural Resources 
Agency; California Department of Water Resources; California Department 
of Fish and Wildlife; and the Office of the Governor of California.
  In addition to integrating proposals from State and Federal agency 
experts, we have incorporated feedback from a variety of stakeholders 
including environmental groups; urban and agricultural water districts; 
wildlife advocates and Democratic and Republican congressional offices.
  As part of the consultation process, we received and incorporated 
more than 40 suggested changes.
  I would first like to cover the long-term provisions.
  As I said, California is home to around 40 million people, but has 
the same water infrastructure as the 1960s, when only 16 million people 
lived in the state.
  Given the changing climate, I believe that California will become a 
desert state if we don't act. Droughts will only become more frequent 
and more severe.
  That's why the long-term provisions of this bill look at new sources 
of water and new ways to store water.
  These long-term provisions authorize a total of $1.3 billion and 
include desalination, recycling, storage, and loan assistance for 
drought-stricken communities. And as I said, these investments can 
produce a new water infrastructure not as dependent on weather.
  This bill increases the WaterSMART authorization by $150 million for 
long-term water conservation, reclamation and recycling.
  Some of these WaterSMART funds can then be used for a new Bureau of 
Reclamation program to help rural and disadvantaged communities that 
are running out of water. These grants would cover everything from 
emergency bottled water to long-term solutions like water treatment 
facilities.
  But we also need to look beyond the current emergency and consider 
ways we can shift these communities from vulnerable water sources like 
wells to more sustainable and resilient water systems.
  That's why this bill prioritizes money from the Environmental 
Protection Agency's Revolving Loan Fund for water infrastructure 
projects that would help drought-stricken communities that are at risk 
of running out of clean water.
  This bill also authorizes $200 million for the Reclamation 
Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, known as RIFIA. This loan-
guarantee program will help water districts and municipalities fund 
long-term solutions to store more water and provide additional clean 
water.
  We also need to invest in desalination and water recycling. These are 
two of the most promising technologies that may offer long-term 
solutions.
  The bill identifies 137 local recycling and desalination projects 
that, if constructed, could produce upwards of 1.4 million acre feet in 
``new'' water.
  This includes 27 desalination projects identified by the State--
totaling more than 352,000 acre-feet of water--that the Secretary of 
the Interior must consider funding if eligible.
  The bill also reauthorizes the Desalination Act and authorizes $100 
million for feasibility studies and project design as well as 
desalinization research to improve the energy co-efficient from reverse 
osmosis and membrane technology. These funds run through 2020.
  In addition, the bill identifies 110 water recycling projects that 
the Secretary of the Interior must consider funding. These projects 
total more than 1,060,334 acre-feet of water.
  The bill authorizes $200 million for the Bureau of Reclamation's 
Title XVI water recycling program and streamlines the program by 
eliminating the hurdle of congressional authorization for individual 
projects.
  We also have to encourage public-private partnerships. That's why the 
bill funds a loan-guarantee program and other financing mechanisms to 
help make projects a reality.
  If all the projects identified in the bill were completed, nearly 1.4 
million acre-feet of ``new'' water could be made available.
  Given the consensus that droughts will grow more severe, we have to 
increase the amount of water we can hold from wet years for use in dry 
years.
  In order to help accomplish this, the bill authorizes $600 million 
for water storage projects in California and other Western States. 
These funds would be available through 2025.
  But the Federal Government can't do it all on its own. California 
signaled that it's ready by enacting a $7.5 billion water bond. The 
bill therefore positions the federal government as a partner with 
California to take advantage of these funds to build new reservoirs and 
expand existing reservoirs.
  Recognizing that the drought has taken a toll on many aspects of life 
in California, including fish and wildlife, this bill authorizes $55 
million for habitat restoration efforts. Measures include protections 
for the entire life cycle of fish, from increasing spawning habitat to 
reducing mortality during migration out to the ocean; reducing threats 
to fish, including smelt and salmon, by removing predators such as 
striped bass from specific locations where they prey on endangered 
fish; using real-time monitoring of turbidity and fish to determine 
pumping rates, rather than specific congressional mandates or targets; 
funding daily boat monitoring to survey for smelt near the pumps when 
turbidity levels are high and the smelt are often attracted to the 
pumps; funding studies to track the smelt's most current locations and 
make decisions that are key to running pumps in a way that is not 
harmful to fish, and providing $10 million in water infrastructure for 
refuges, a vital resource for billions of migratory birds that use the 
Pacific Flyway.
  In addition to the long-term provisions, the bill includes short-
term, temporary provisions to allow for more efficient operation of the 
Federal and State water systems.
  As I stated, these emergency operations provisions last only for the 
length of the Governor's Emergency Declaration or 2 years--whichever is 
longer.
  These short-term provisions will allow the agencies to capture water 
from winter storms. Already, the snowpack is significantly higher in 
height and water content than the last few years, and more water is 
flowing down the Delta.
  The bill has eight key provisions that will allow for water to be 
captured and stored:
  Improved data to operate pumps. Enhanced daily monitoring and data 
collection will help to operate pumps more efficiently, and pump at 
higher levels when no fish are present and pump at reduced levels when 
fish are nearby.
  The revised bill requires daily boat monitoring to survey for smelt 
near the pumps when turbidity levels are high, so that pumping 
reductions are made based on the most up-to-date facts.
  The bill also authorizes studies to identify smelts' location in the 
Delta on a real-time basis.
  In addition, the bill authorizes a Delta Smelt Distribution study to 
identify how many smelt are in different parts of the Delta in drier 
and wetter years. This is critical to know what level of take of the 
smelt is a threat to the species.
  Winter storms and ``payback.'' The revised bill authorizes agencies 
to increase pumping during winter storms using their best judgment to 
determine when and by how much.
  Once the storms end, the agencies would no longer be required to 
``payback'' water already pumped unless there was an environmental 
reason, such as harm to fish.

  This so-called ``payback'' has led to the loss of tens of thousands 
of acre-feet of water. Payback currently requires agencies to reduce 
subsequent water pumping by an equal amount of water as was captured 
during the storms, which results in the loss of tens of thousands of 
acre-feet of water that could instead be stored or transferred for use 
throughout the State.
  Agencies must explain pumping levels under the Delta Smelt Biological 
Opinion.
  The bill does not impose any mandated pumping levels, instead leaving

[[Page S825]]

those pumping levels up to the discretion of the water agencies. But 
the bill does require officials to justify the levels at which they 
pump.
  By requiring written justification for the level of pumping, the bill 
attempts to maximize the amount of water pumped by requiring officials 
to consider whether real-time monitoring justifies lowering pumping 
levels. This water system must be operated based on science, not 
intuition.
  I want to be clear: The revised text does not include any mandate. We 
removed a provision that would have mandated pumping at -5000 cubic 
feet per second in the Old and Middle Rivers, unless pumping at these 
levels would cause additional adverse effects on the Delta smelt.
  The 1:1 transfer ratio. The strong El Nino means more water is likely 
to be available for voluntary transfers from willing sellers with extra 
water to buyers downstream who need water.
  This provision helps facilitate those transfers in April and May by 
allowing a 1:1 transfer ratio. In past years, agencies have reduced the 
likelihood of transfers by requiring water users to send more water 
downstream than could be captured and stored at a 4:1 ratio.
  By allowing for a 1:1 ratio--while adhering to environmental law and 
biological opinions--more water transfers can be accomplished, 
providing water to users who truly need it.
  Extending the time period for water transfers by five months. The 
bill extends by 5 months the time period when transfers may take place.
  The current transfer window of July through September is extended to 
April through November. Extending the transfer window allows water 
transfers to be available during the spring planting season.
  All transfers must remain consistent with the biological opinions.
  Expediting review of transfers and the construction of barriers. 
Environmental reviews of water transfers and the installation of 
temporary barriers must be completed within 60 days, unless an 
environmental impact statement is required.
  Agencies must maximize water supplies consistent with applicable laws 
and biological opinions.
  Federal agencies can and should try to both protect species and 
provide water supplies.
  The bill makes very clear that agencies cannot harm the fish in 
violation of the biological opinions--but within this environmental 
protection mandate, the agencies should try to increase water 
supplies--especially during a drought emergency.
  This requirement complements the additional requirement that agencies 
must explain any harm to the fish that requires a reduction in water 
supplies.
  Delta Cross-Channel Gates. The bill requires the Secretary of the 
Interior and the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that the gates remain 
open as long as possible.
  These gates are critically important for controlling salinity in the 
Delta. When the gates are closed, water that would otherwise be pumped 
or stored is instead used to flush salty water out through the Delta.
  Keeping the gates open for longer will help to reduce salinity in the 
interior Delta and avoid releasing water unnecessarily in the Central 
Valley Project and State Water Project. This helps both Delta farmers 
and communities as well as those south of Delta.
  As I stated before, all of these short-term provisions are temporary 
and will sunset when the Governor's drought emergency expires or two 
years from the date of enactment, whichever is later.
  We have spent untold hours working on this bill.
  We have addressed--to the best of our ability--the concerns raised by 
a host of constituent groups and individuals including 
environmentalists, water districts, Federal and State agencies, and the 
agricultural sector.
  The bill reflects many meetings between Democrats and Republicans, 
water districts, cities, rural communities, farmers, fishermen, and a 
number of environmental groups.
  While this bill will not satisfy every water interest, I believe that 
these provisions will place California on a long-term path to drought 
resiliency.
  This is a bill that offers real help to California while adhering to 
the laws and biological opinions that protect fish and wildlife.
  The result of our efforts is a bill that stands a real chance of 
being approved by both parties and signed into law. I look forward to 
working with my colleagues to make that happen.

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