[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 9]
[House]
[Pages 12155-12156]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       CALIFORNIA'S WATER CRISIS

  (Mr. COSTA asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call attention today to the ongoing 
water crisis facing California. The drought is not over, nor has 
Congress addressed the underlying reasons for the disproportional 
impact on the San Joaquin Valley communities and the conditions that we 
face.
  It has been reported that California could be facing a La Nina 
condition this upcoming winter. That means that we will have dry 
conditions and further loss of available water for people, farms, and 
the environment.

[[Page 12156]]

  We must pass legislation that will be signed into law which will 
create a rational, balanced water policy, both in the short and long 
term, that benefits California's farm communities and the environment.
  I will submit later for the Record a thoughtful op-ed piece written 
by a constituent and friend of mine, Cannon Michael. He is a farmer in 
the valley. We share a lot of the same frustration over how Congress 
has failed to pass legislation to solve California's water problems. 
This op-ed piece describes exactly how the people of the valley feel, 
and I urge my colleagues to come together to enact legislation that 
California desperately needs this year.

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