[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 21 (Monday, February 4, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S833]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
  S. 316. 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 rise 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 local stakeholders in California on this important 
legislation.
  This legislation will establish California's first National Heritage 
Area in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to promote environmental 
stewardship, heritage conservation, and economic development in 
communities across five Delta-area counties.
  The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the largest estuary in the 
western United States and one of the most productive and ecologically 
important watersheds in North America. This extensive inland delta is a 
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.
  It also provides critical habitat for more than 750 wildlife species, 
including Sandhill cranes and other migratory birds along the Pacific 
Flyway as well as 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 also 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 Americans 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'' unique 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 the opportunity for modest federal 
funding to help local entities, principally the Delta Protection 
Commission, manage the Heritage Area in accordance with California law 
and in partnership with Delta communities.
  The management planning process required by this legislation will be 
collaborative and open to the public. Federal, State, tribal, and local 
governments, private property owners, and all stakeholders will have a 
voice in the management planning for the Heritage Area.
  I'd like to emphasize that this legislation does not affect water 
rights or water contracts, nor does it 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.
  Today, the Delta faces a crisis due to invasive species, urban and 
agricultural run-off, wastewater overloads, channelization, dredging, 
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 for 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, 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.
  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.
  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.
  Thank you, Mr. President, I yield the floor.
                                 ______