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PERSPECTIVES ON CALIFORNIA WATER SUPPLY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING BEFORETHE SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER OFTHE COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION Monday, January 25, 2010, in Los Angeles, California Serial No. 111-43 Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/index.html or Committee address: http://resourcescommittee.house.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 54-619 PDF WASHINGTON : 2010 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES NICK J. RAHALL, II, West Virginia, Chairman DOC HASTINGS, Washington, Ranking Republican Member Dale E. Kildee, Michigan Don Young, Alaska Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Samoa Elton Gallegly, California Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey Jeff Flake, Arizona Grace F. Napolitano, California Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina Rush D. Holt, New Jersey Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Rau´l M. Grijalva, Arizona Louie Gohmert, Texas Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam Rob Bishop, Utah Jim Costa, California Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania Dan Boren, Oklahoma Doug Lamborn, Colorado Gregorio Sablan, Northern Marianas Adrian Smith, Nebraska Martin T. Heinrich, New Mexico Robert J. Wittman, Virginia George Miller, California Paul C. Broun, Georgia Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts John Fleming, Louisiana Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon Mike Coffman, Colorado Maurice D. Hinchey, New York Jason Chaffetz, Utah Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Islands Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming Diana DeGette, Colorado Tom McClintock, California Ron Kind, Wisconsin Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Lois Capps, California Jay Inslee, Washington Joe Baca, California Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota John P. Sarbanes, Maryland Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico James H. Zoia, Chief of Staff Rick Healy, Chief Counsel Todd Young, Republican Chief of Staff Lisa Pittman, Republican Chief Counsel SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California, Chairwoman TOM McCLINTOCK, California, Ranking Republican Member George Miller, California Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington, Rau´l M. Grijalva, Arizona Adrian Smith, Nebraska Jim Costa, California Mike Coffman, Colorado Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon Doc Hastings, Washington, ex officio Jay Inslee, Washington Joe Baca, California Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia, ex officio (II) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY CONTENTS Page Hearing held on Monday, January 25, 2010 ......................................................... 1 Statement of Members: Calvert, Hon. Ken, a Representative in Congress from the State of California ....................................................................................................... 9 Chu, Hon. Judy, a Representative in Congress from the State of California ....................................................................................................... 11 Costa, Hon. Jim, a Representative in Congress from the State of California ....................................................................................................... 7 McClintock, Hon. Tom, a Representative in Congress from the State of California ................................................................................................... 6 Napolitano, Hon. Grace F., a Representative in Congress from the State of California ................................................................................................... 1 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 4 Congressional Research Service report entitled ‘‘California Drought: Hydrological and Regulatory Water Supply Issues’’ ........................... 6 Statement of Witnesses: Brady, Brian J., General Manager, Imperial Irrigation District, Imperial, California ....................................................................................................... 38 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 39 Caballero, Hon. Anna, Assembly Member of the California State Legislature, Representing the 28th Assembly District, Sacramento, California ....................................................................................................... 18 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 20 Collins, Larry, Vice President, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, San Francisco, California ...................................................... 83 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 84 Connor, Hon. Michael, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. ........................................... 12 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 15 Del Bosque, Joe L., Owner, Empresas Del Bosque Inc., Los Banos, California ....................................................................................................... 89 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 90 Dunn, Lucy, President and Chief Executive Officer, Orange County Business Council, Irvine, California ............................................................ 80 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 81 Famiglietti, Professor Jay, Ph.D., Department of Earth System Science, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California ................................. 65 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 67 Gleick, Dr. Peter H., President, Pacific Institute, Oakland, California ....... 59 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 61 Kightlinger, Jeffery, General Manager, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles, California ............................................. 35 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 37 Luna, Miguel A., Executive Director, Urban Semillas, Los Angeles, California ....................................................................................................... 71 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 72 Parks, Dan, Assistant General Manager, Coachella Valley Water District, Coachella, California .................................................................................... 50 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 51 Snow, Hon. Lester A., Director, California Department of Water Resources, Sacramento, California .............................................................. 21 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 23 Stapleton, Maureen A., General Manager, San Diego County Water Authority, San Diego, California ................................................................. 41 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 43 (III) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING ON ‘‘PERSPEC- TIVES ON CALIFORNIA WATER SUPPLY: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES.’’ Monday, January 25, 2010 U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Water and Power Committee on Natural Resources Los Angeles, California The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 1:00 p.m., in the Boardroom, The Metropolitan Water District, Los Angeles, California, Hon. Grace Napolitano [Chairwoman of the Sub- committee] presiding. Present: Representatives Napolitano, Costa, and McClintock. Also Present: Representatives Chu and Calvert. STATEMENT OF HON. GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, A REPRESENTA- TIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Mrs. NAPOLITANO. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Subcommittee on Water and Power’s hearing. I now will call it to order. The purpose of today’s hearing is to hold an oversight hearing on ‘‘Perspectives on California Water Supply: Challenges and Opportu- nities,’’ in Southern California. I ask unanimous consent that Congressman Ken Calvert and Congresswoman Judy Chu be allowed to sit on the dais and partici- pate in the Subcommittee proceedings today, and without objection, I so order. Congressman Costa will be joining us shortly. After my opening statement, I will recognize all other Members of Congress and the Subcommittee for any statement they may have, or they can submit it for the record, as they choose. Any Member of Congress who desires to be heard will be heard. Additional material may be submitted for the record by Members of Congress, by any witness or by any interested party. The record will be kept open for 10 business days following today’s hearing, and a five-minute rule, with a timer, will be enforced. Green means go, yellow indicates you have one minute, and the red means stop or I will gavel. I certainly want to extend my thanks to Metropolitan Water for allowing us to use this beautiful facility and for the hospitality for the witnesses and for us in hosting today’s hearing. It means a lot. (1) VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY 2 It is convenient and central. I also wanted to thank the Board members who are here. Board members, would you please stand up. I don’t want to miss anybody. Members? Water, ladies and gentlemen, is California’s gold. Either we have too little or too much recently, and this past week we saw almost a year’s worth of rain. Yet we are nowhere near filling our dams, our rivers, our lakes or aquifers. It does not mean that our concerns over drought and how water is managed in California are over; far from it. We are in the midst of a real challenge: Increasing population, aging infrastructure, water supply restrictions, water quality concerns, environmental concerns, etcetera. The list goes on. It continues to grow with each year. We are here today to continue a discussion, and this will not be the last of our hearings in Southern California, in an attempt to clarify California’s water status, the water situation that over the past three years has been intensifying and reaching a dangerous and critical point. The dilemma we face in Washington is how can we work together to meet the challenge cooperatively and in a civil manner; that is, without litigation. Management of water in California is a cooperative effort, balancing between State, Federal and local suppliers. The resulting plumbing system is managed to meet the needs of over 30 million citizens who expect and are used to having a good quality product to be delivered to them at a reasonable price. Our desire today is to have a dialogue about how the water situation in Southern California factors into the state’s wide approach to addressing the whole state’s drought issues and concerns. Every- one here today has a story to tell, and many of you have asked to be heard, and we are asking that you submit something for the record. Likely, all of you have suggestions for some of those solutions. It is that dialogue about ideas and suggestions on how we can most effectively work together that we would like to have from you today. The importance of this discussion and why we are in Southern California is that the issue of water requires us to hear from all parties and constituencies. Developing a logical and doable approach to addressing the California water crisis requires a statewide coordinated approach. I believe we are seeing the manifestation of this in California’s legislative efforts in November, the December Interim Federal Action Plan and last September’s Memorandum of Understanding between the State and the six Federal agencies, or maybe it is seven. These are all good efforts to bring direction, and now we need consistent and dedicated leadership to be successful. Inde- pendent actions taken without commitment will not result in a long-term solution. There is not one answer that will solve the hurt that many have felt and continue to feel under current water conditions. A couple of storms are of some relief, but they are a reflection of weather impact by variable ocean conditions. They are not the long-term solutions to address the issues that underlie our whole water dilemma. VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY 3 There has been a great deal of conjecture and a lot of one-way dialogue that the current water problems are due to the current regulatory environment, and a lot of finger pointing in the past. While making interesting theatre, they do not provide action nor resolve the underlying problems. In a December 2009 Congressional Research Service report, they concluded that, and I quote, ‘‘the current drought has created a fundamental shortage of supply. Regulatory or court-imposed restrictions, as well as the long-established state water rights system, exacerbate the effects of the drought for agricultural and urban water users.’’ The combined effect of drought, the state water rights system, the physical constraints of hydrologic plumbing system, carryover surface and groundwater supplies, changing dynamics of climate, and legally mandated regulations for water quality and the environment all affect the delivery of water to agricultural, urban and environmental systems of California. It is very evident today, our water management in California is supply limited. The challenge of all water users is how to adapt and mitigate to live within our water means, and not to have a reduction in service or quality and have a loss in the critical environmental services for that water quality. Some have questioned why we are having this discussion in Southern California rather than in the north. That is where the drought is hitting the hardest. The answer is simple. The drought is a statewide concern and demands that all portions of the state be heard from, especially when two-thirds of California’s population is in Southern California. When looking at the issue of water debate in California over the last few years—I would say three or more—there have been numerous meetings, hearings, and discussions in Northern California and in the Central Valley. Curiously missing was hearing from the people and the issues facing the citizens of Southern California. Citizens in this area feel the drought from both imports from the Colorado River Basin and from Northern California. In Southern California, we are experiencing the near-perfect storm of reduced supplies, increased demand from rising populations, and the steadily increasing complexity of legal, environmental and administra- tive requirements. The recent court decisions regarding the management of the Colorado River and the Quantification Settlement Agreement potentially throws years of negotiations and cooperation in jeopardy, and with it water supplies for Southern California. Water is a basic human right. How many of us think about the water source when we turn on the tap in the morning to make our coffee or drink our tea? How many of us think about the journey that the drop of water has taken as it moves from the Sierras or the Rocky Mountains to the reservoirs, the canals, the water treatment plants, the pipes in our houses or apartments? We all take it for granted. The reality is, as we are finding out, that quantity, quality, and real-time supply of water is critical to our health and well-being and to our basic economy. Every citizen in California deserves a clean and dependable source of water. Today we are going to have three panels discuss three different aspects of the water issues in California. The first panel will VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY 4 discuss the Federal and State approach to the current water solution. This will include a discussion of the State of California’s state water plan, followed by a discussion of the November historic water legislation. Last, we have asked the Department of the Interior to discuss the Federal-Delta water plan, the impacts of the recent QSA decision on the Colorado River water supply, and the role of water reclamation and reuse to supplies here in Southern California, and maybe even the support of the Administration’s 2012 increase to $200 million to alleviate the $600 million backlog of Title XVI recycling projects. I would appreciate it if the people behind you can see. Thank you so very much. Thank you for being here. The second panel will focus on the issues associated with water delivery to the citizens of Southern California. This will include discussions associated with the water delivery reductions from the two primary water supply sources of Southern California, imports from Northern California and water supplied from the Colorado River system, and the impacts associated with recent court decisions and what constraints this puts on supplying water to the citizens of the southland. The last panel will address the science and information needs that can help Federal, State and local water managers make better decisions, and identify specific local and regional impacts to the urban water users, to the fishermen, and to the farmers. We will use today’s hearing to discuss, listen and, hopefully, learn more about the water crisis in all of California, and the coordinated efforts to address it. This discussion needs to begin now, if we are to work together to implement real solutions and real change, not just talk. We have a challenge in front of us, and together I am positive we can begin to identify those solutions. With that, I would like to now yield to the Ranking Member, to my right, of the Subcommittee on Water and Power, Congressman Tom McClintock, for his opening statement. [The prepared statement of Chairwoman Napolitano follows:] Statement of The Honorable Grace F. Napolitano, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Water and Power Water in California—either we have too little of it or too much. This past week has resulted in almost a year’s worth of rain. While the increase in our water supply is appreciated, it does not mean that our concerns over drought and how water is managed in California are over. Far from it. We are in the midst of a real challenge—increasing population, aging infrastructure, water supply restrictions, water quality concerns, environmental concerns ‘‘. the list goes on and continues to grow with each year. We are here today to continue a discussion about the California water situation. A water situation that over the past three years has been intensifying and reaching a boiling point. The dilemma we face in Washington is how can we work together to meet the challenge cooperatively and in a civil manner. Management of water conditions in California is a cooperative effort—balancing between State, Federal and local suppliers. The resulting plumbing system is managed to meet the needs of over 30 million citizens who expect a good quality product to be delivered to them. Our desire here is to have a dialogue about how the water situation in Southern California factors into the states-wide approach to addressing the larger drought issues and concerns. Everyone here today has a story to tell about how the drought has affected them or their constituents and likely all of you have suggestions for solutions. It is that dialogue about ideas and suggestions on how we can most effectively work together that we want to have today. VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY 5 The importance of this discussion and why we are here in Southern California is that the issue of water requires that we hear from all parts and constituencies. De- veloping a logical and doable approach to addressing the California water crisis requires a statewide coordinate approach. I believe we are seeing the manifestation of this in the California Legislatures efforts in November, the December Interim Federal Action Plan and last September’s Memorandum of Understanding between the State and Federal agencies. These are all good efforts to bring direction and now need consistent and dedicated leadership to be successful. Independent actions taken without commitment will not result in long-term solutions. There is no one silver bullet that will solve the hurt that many are feeling with the current water conditions. A couple of days of rain are certainly a nice relief but they are a reflection of weather impacted by variable ocean conditions and are not the long-term solutions to addressing the issues that underlie our water dilemma. There has been a great deal of conjecture and a lot of one-way dialogue that the current water problems are due to the current regulatory environment. While making for interesting theatre they do not help in resolving the underlying problems. In a December 2009 Congressional Research Service report, CRS concluded that ‘‘the current drought has created a fundamental shortage of supply. Regulatory or court-imposed restrictions, as well as the long-established state water rights system, exacerbate the effects of the drought for agricultural and urban water users’’. The combined effect of the drought, the state water rights system, physical constraints of the hydrologic plumbing system, carryover surface and groundwater supplies, changing dynamics of climate, and legally mandated regulations for water quality and the environment all affect the delivery of water to the agricultural, urban and environmental systems of California. The issue is very simple—today our water management in California is supply limited. The challenge to all water users is how to adapt and mitigate to live within our water means and not have a reduction in service or have a loss in critical environmental services and water quality. Some have questioned why we are having this discussion in Southern California rather than further north. The answer is simple—the drought is a statewide concern and demands that all portions of the state be heard from. When looking at the issue of water debate in California over the last 3 years, there have been numerous meetings, hearings, and discussions in northern California and the Central Valley. Curi- ously missing was hearing from the people and issues facing the citizens of South- ern California. Citizens in Southern California feel the drought from both imports from the Colo- rado River Basin and from northern California. In Southern California we are experiencing the near perfect storm of reduced supplies, increased demand from rising populations, and a steadily increasing complexity of legal, environmental and ad- ministrative requirements. The recent court decisions regarding the management of Colorado River water and the Quantification Settlement Agreement potentially throws years of negotiations and cooperation in jeopardy and with it water supplies for Southern California. Water is a basic human right. How many of us think about it the waters source when we turn on the tap in the morning to fill that coffee or tea pot? How many of us think about the journey that the drop of water takes as it moves from the Sierras or the Rocky Mountains to the reservoirs, the canals, the water treatment plants and the pipes in our houses or apartments? We take it for granted. The reality is as we are finding out is that quantity, quality and real-time supply of water is critical to our health and well being. Every citizen in California deserves a clean and dependable source of water. Today we are going to have three panels discuss three different aspects of the water issues in California. The first panel will discuss the federal and state approach to the current California water situation. This will include a discussion of California’s state water plan, followed by a discussion of the November historic state water legislation. Lastly we have asked the Department of the Interior to discuss the Federal-Delta water plan, the impacts of the recent QSA decision on Colorado River water supply and the role of water reclamation and reuse to supplies here in Southern California. The second panel will focus on the issues associated with water delivery to the citizens of Southern California. This will include discussions about impacts associated with water delivery reductions from the two primary water supply sources of Southern California, imports from northern California and water supplied from the Colorado River system and the impacts associated with recent state court decisions and what constraints this puts on supplying water to the citizens of the southland. The last panel will address the science and information needs that can help Fed- eral, State and local water managers make better decisions, as well as help to iden- VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY 6 tify specific ‘‘local and regional ‘‘impacts to urban water users, fishermen and farmers. We will use today’s hearing to discuss, listen, and hopefully learn about the water crisis in California and the efforts being made to address it. This discussion needs to occur now if we are to work together to implement real solutions. We have a challenge in front of us, and together I am positive we can figure out solutions. With that said, I am pleased to now yield to the Ranking Member of the Sub- committee on Water and Power, Congressman Tom McClintock, for his opening statement. [NOTE: The Congressional Research Service report entitled ‘‘California Drought: Hydrological and Regulatory Water Supply Issues’’ dated December 7, 2009, has been re- tained in the Committee’s official files. It can also be found at: http://www.crs.gov/Pages/Reports.aspx?ProdCode=R40979 STATEMENT OF HON. TOM McCLINTOCK, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA Mr. MCCLINTOCK. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman. First, I would like to express our appreciation for putting the Cen- tral Valley into its busy schedule so that it can hear firsthand of the economic damage and human misery that has been caused by the Federal Government’s decision to shut off 200 trillion gallons of water to Central Valley farms in order to indulge the environ- mentalist tech project, the Delta Smelts. In the absence of the Committee’s cooperation, the Minority Republicans just held such a hearing under our own auspices this morning in Fresno. I can tell you that Secretary Salazar’s statement to the Committee last year in which he admitted the government had the discretion to turn the pumps back on but would not do so because, quote, ‘‘that would be like admitting failure,’’ did not sit well with the people there, and the Administration’s absence was also noted. This disastrous folly has destroyed a half-million acres of the most fertile farmland in America and destroyed the livelihoods that supported 30,000 struggling families. The prices on grocery shelves here in Southern California are directly affected by the loss of 500,000 acres of Valley agriculture due to this decision, and on be- half of the people of the Central Valley, from whom I have just heard this morning, I again renew the Minority’s urgent plea that this Committee come to the Central Valley to see firsthand the suffering that this policy has caused. Today’s hearing is about challenges and opportunities on California’s water supply. I found the questions raised in the witnesses’ invitations indicative of a concern that this Congress has lost perspective on creating abundant water supplies. Today, this Congress and this Administration seem to have adopted the posi- tion that government’s principal objective should not be to create abundance, but rather to ration shortages. The Majority’s questions to witnesses failed to mention the need for more water storage or the costs and benefits of all water supply infrastructure options. I must again remind the Subcommittee of the obvious reality, that managing a water shortage is not the same as solving a water shortage. VerDate Nov 24 2008 12:03 May 03, 2010 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6602 L:\DOCS\54619.TXT Hresour1 PsN: KATHY