House Passes Two Costa Amendments To The Energy And Water Appropriations Bill

Amendments Will Fund Critical California Water Projects And Ease Regulations To Transfer Water Around The State

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Earlier in the week, the House ofRepresentatives passed two amendments authored by Congressman Jim Costa(D-Fresno) and Congressman Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) by voice vote. Thetwo amendments will provide $10 million in funding toward the Intertie andTwo-Gates projects, direct the Secretary of the Interior to diversify sourcesof water for refuges to free up more water for agricultural water users, easethe ability for the state to do inter-county transfers, and expedite a plan todeal with the Giant Garter Snake, which has been an impediment to criticalwater transfers. The bill was passed today by the House and now moves onto the Senate for consideration.

"I am verypleased my colleagues supported these amendments," Costa said. "Two-Gates, if successfully implemented, will give greater flexibility of thefederal and state pumps to operate, thereby supplying water to projects southof the Delta to work as they were intended. During critical times of theyear, it would prevent the salmon and smelt from being ingested into thepumps."

Costacontinued, "While these are not the silver bullet to fix our water challenges,these fixes are a step in the right direction and part of a continued effort tohelp address our short and long-term water strategies. For far too long,our farmers and farm workers have been held hostage by the lack of a plan todeal with the Giant Garter Snake and the Bureau's inflexibility to transferwater within and beyond county lines. We cannot allow endless bureaucracyand misuses of the Endangered Species Act to impede our Valley's economy. Finally, I want to thank Congressman Cardoza for his assistance with theseamendments."

The firstamendment reduces the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner's Policy andAdministration account by $10 million and transfers it to the CALFED account tohelp speed along the Intertie and Two-Gates projects, in addition todiversifying refuge water supplies, which are currently taken from suppliesthat would otherwise go to agricultural water users within the Central ValleyProject. Costa's second amendment will allow transfers of water betweencertain Central Valley Project contractors within the South Delta Divisions ofthe Central Valley Project. It also directs the Secretary of the Interiorto expeditiously revise, finalize and implement the Draft Recovery plan for theGiant Garter Snake.