[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 187 (Friday, December 2, 2022)]
[House]
[Page H8724]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 CROPS NEED MORE WATER FROM GOVERNMENT

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Mr. Speaker, California has suffered from water 
shortages for a few years, partly due to low rainfall and snowpack 
annually, but in big part due to the poor management of the water we do 
receive.
  Our lakes were basically full in 2019 and also in 2017, when you may 
recall the Oroville Dam spillway incident.
  Our water systems, both State and Federal, are designed to withstand 
5 years of drought. It doesn't work when government regulators let all 
the water out for dubious fish and environmental purposes.
  Lake Oroville, in 2021, which was less than 2 years after being full, 
had its lowest level in its history, so low it wasn't even making 
hydroelectric power--this in a State that wants to electrify all of our 
cars and appliances.
  So, what are we going to do? Hundreds of thousands of acres of ag 
land also have been idle with these crops that all of America depends 
on, not just California. It is not just California farmers. These crops 
are used widely across our whole country. Yet, they are not being grown 
because they are wasting our water.

  Rain season is now upon us. I hope we can get our Federal and State 
regulators to be much wiser about saving our water and keeping it 
stored so we don't run short of food and electricity due to their bad 
management.

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