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Costa Says Working Together is Key to Passing California Water Legislation

December 14, 2015

Fresno, CA – Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16) released the following statement regarding California water legislation.

"For months, my Republican and Democratic colleagues have been working on short- and long-term solutions for California's drought stricken economy. Those of us from the San Joaquin Valley have been working on it for years. Many of us are fearful that California will receive the much anticipated El Niño rains and snow in the mountains over the next four months, and yet we will not be able to move as much water through the Delta as we need, and many farm communities will end up with another zero allocation of water. This would be devastating, and is both unacceptable and avoidable. My colleagues and I all agree that we have come very close to reaching an agreement on how we can take advantage of excess flows during these storms.

"I urge Senators Feinstein and Boxer and my Republican and Democratic colleagues in the House to not give up. We can all retreat to our political corners and point fingers to lay blame, but that will not bring us desperately needed water next year, nor will it address the very real harm done to the very people we have the honor to represent.

"The fact is we still have to work together to accomplish this very difficult task, and I will continue to work with the multiple parties involved in these negotiations to try to bridge the conflicts. I understand we are all frustrated, but it is our responsibility to the people of California to come together and agree on solutions that will reach our goal of bringing water to regions of our state that could receive no water allocation next year, even with an exceptional El Niño event. Doing anything else would be irresponsible and a disservice to all Californians."