Opinion: House should pull the plug on water grab
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the June 24, 2011, Sacramento Bee.
The first daunting fact about California water is that 75 percent of the state’s water supply comes from north of Sacramento while 75 percent of the demand comes from south of the region.
The other daunting fact is that the water system is dramatically oversubscribed – paper allocations of water are larger than actual availability in most years.
As a result, water-thirsty interests are constantly seeking to secure supplies from others, through proper means (such as water marketing) or less savory methods. The latter is at play with House Resolution 1837, proposed by Reps. Devin Nunes of Tulare, Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield and Jeff Denham of Atwater. It would explicitly favor one set of water users – farmers on the west side of the southern San Joaquin Valley – over all the others.
So what has been the reaction of Northern California members of Congress?
Oddly, Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, has promoted the bill as chairman of the House Water and Power Subcommittee.
But every other Northern California member of Congress opposes it.