[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 63 (Monday, April 17, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H1732]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      WATER STORAGE FOR CALIFORNIA

  (Mr. LaMALFA asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. LaMALFA. Madam Speaker, California has gotten a heck of a lot of 
rain and snow this year. We are very grateful for that. After several 
dry years, Mother Nature and God have been good to us. Billions of 
gallons of water have flooded California in some areas, including the 
newly created Tulare Lake, as in previous decades.
  Our snowpack is indeed at near-record levels, but so much of this 
water is being lost out to the ocean. California's water infrastructure 
hasn't been really added to in over 40 years. Now, we have a 1.5 
million acre-foot project called Sites Reservoir that has been talked 
about for about 40 years. Endless environmental studies and other hang-
ups have kept the permitting process from being completed.
  All Californians--indeed all Americans--suffer because the food crops 
that we are growing in our State feed 90 percent of our country in 
certain types of crops.
  In 2014, Californians voted in favor of a bond to increase our water 
storage if the money gets spent on tearing down dams and taking away 
hydroelectric power.
  If Sites Reservoir was in place this year, it would be half full in 
just one season with 750,000 acre-feet of water. That opportunity has 
been lost.
  Madam Speaker, we need to get these projects done.

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