[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 56 (Tuesday, March 28, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1517]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1845
    WATER STORAGE IS KEY TO CALIFORNIA'S ABILITY TO WEATHER DROUGHTS

  (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, recently the California Department of Water 
Resources announced that water deliveries throughout the State Water 
Project would be increased to 75 percent of requested amounts. Also, 
the Bureau of Reclamation made a similar announcement on 100 percent in 
certain districts in northern California.
  The State levels have increased from an announced 35 percent earlier 
on. These increases are possible due to the massive amount of rain and 
snowpack California has received from a series of winter storms.
  Many of our State's reservoirs, once teetering on the brink of being 
empty, are rapidly filling. While these increased water allocations are 
good news, there is still a pressing need for more water storage in 
California.
  Sites Reservoir in my district, a project that should already have 
been built, would already have 1\1/2\ million acre-feet of water in it. 
Raising Shasta Dam farther north only 18 feet would result in 630,000 
more acre-feet. One acre-foot of water, for example, is enough to 
sustain two California families for a whole year.
  Improving the flood controls and modernizing some of our water 
infrastructure would allow us to keep more stormwater. Storage is key 
for California's ability to weather droughts for more than 1 year. 
Store the water we get in the winter and we will have it when we need 
it in the summer.

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