[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 53 (Monday, March 27, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1999-S2000]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Ms. Harris):
  S. 731. A bill to establish the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National 
Heritage Area; to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I speak on behalf of myself and 
Senator Harris to reintroduce legislation to establish the Sacramento-
San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area, California's first National 
Heritage Area. I am very pleased to work with Senator Harris, 
Congressman John Garamendi, and our colleagues in the State on this 
much needed legislation. Our legislation will establish a new national 
heritage area in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to promote 
environmental stewardship, heritage conservation, and economic 
development across five delta counties.
  The Delta Protection Commission will manage the heritage area in 
accordance with California law and in partnership with delta 
communities. The management planning process provided by this 
legislation will be open to the public and collaborative. Federal, 
State, Tribal, and local governments, private property owners, and all 
stakeholders will have a voice in the management planning for the 
heritage area.
  The goal is to conserve and protect the delta, its communities, its 
natural resources, and its rich history.
  In short, this legislation does not affect water rights or water 
contracts, nor does it is impose any additional responsibilities on 
local governments or private landowners. Instead, this legislation 
authorizes federal assistance to support local projects as part of an 
inclusive process required by State law.
  The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the largest estuary in the 
Western United States and perhaps the most productive and ecologically 
important watershed in North America. This extensive inland delta is a 
natural marvel and national treasure that must be protected. The delta 
offers recreational opportunities enjoyed by millions of Californians 
and out-of-State visitors alike, who come each year for boating, 
fishing, hunting, and sightseeing.
  The delta provides critical habitat for more than 750 wildlife 
species, including sandhill cranes and other migratory birds along the 
Pacific Flyway. It also provides habitat for iconic native fish like 
the chinook salmon, some as large as 60 pounds, which return each year 
to travel through the delta to spawn in tributaries upstream.
  These same waterways provide freshwater to millions of California 
households and irrigated farmland south of the delta and elsewhere in 
the State.
  Before being converted for farmland starting in the 19th century, the 
delta flooded regularly following the springtime snowmelt and once 
supported the continent's largest Native American communities.
  Later, the delta served as the gateway for the California Gold Rush, 
after which Chinese immigrant workers built hundreds of miles of levees 
to make the delta's rich peat soils available for farming and to 
control flooding.
  Japanese, Chinese, Italian, German, Portuguese, Dutch, Greek, South 
Asian, and other immigrants began the area's farming legacy and 
established proud communities that continue today.
  Over the years, the vibrant ``river culture'' endemic to delta 
communities has attracted the attention of celebrated authors from Mark 
Twain and Jack London to Joan Didion.
  A national heritage area designation would help to preserve this 
uniquely American story by providing supportive local governments 
across the delta with a needed management framework, technical 
assistance, and modest Federal funding.
  Today, the delta faces crisis due to proliferate invasive species, 
urban and agricultural runoff, wastewater overloads, channelization, 
dredging, formidable water exports, and other stressors.
  Many delta islands are now 10 to 20 feet below sea level due to 
subsidence, and the present levee system is inadequate in providing 
reliable flood protection for historic communities, agricultural 
enterprises, and infrastructure. Alarmingly, many existing levees were 
simply not engineered to withstand earthquakes. Should levees fail,

[[Page S2000]]

a rush of saltwater into the interior delta would damage this already 
fragile ecosystem, disrupt drinking water supplies, flood agricultural 
land, inundate towns, and damage roads, powerlines, and water 
infrastructure.
  Establishing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta National Heritage Area 
will secure much needed Federal resources for delta communities. Our 
legislation recognizes the delta as a working landscape central to 
California life and seeks to further local projects already underway 
that promote environmental stewardship, heritage conservation, 
community revitalization, and economic development throughout the 
delta.
  This legislation also seeks to fulfill the broadly supported 2009 
California State law that called for a heritage area designation for 
the delta and the Delta Protection Commission's own feasibility report 
in 2012.
  Our legislation is a small part of the commitment the Federal 
Government must make to the California delta. I look forward to 
continuing to work with my colleagues at every level of government to 
restore the delta and its native species, upgrade California's water 
supply, safeguard against flood risk, improve water quality, and 
preserve delta communities' rich heritage and continued vibrancy.

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