Testimony Archive

Statement of Gary Frazer, Assistant Director for Ecological Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the
U.S. Department of the Interior
Before the
Natural Resources Committee
U.S. House of Representatives
on
H.R. 1927
More Water and Security for Californians Act

September 09, 2014

The More Water and Security for Californians Act, HR 1927, is aimed at minimizing the extent to which California’s water supplies are impacted by requirements for fish under the Endangered Species Act (ESA; 16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). The bill addresses operation of the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP), collectively referred to as the “Projects,” and applies to biological opinions associated with the projects under the ESA. The bill states that all requirements of the ESA relating to operation of the projects are “deemed satisfied” if reasonable and prudent alternatives (RPAs) from the biological opinions are implemented, additional actions are implemented and as long as state requirements for water quality are met. The bill favors specific operational regimes described in the biological opinions, and is aimed at preventing any interpretation of the biological opinions that would curtail water exports via the state and federal pumping plants in the southern end of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta.

The bill’s other major provisions authorize a fish hatchery program for delta smelt; a habitat program that includes fish passage projects in and above the Bay-Delta; and the installation of a barrier within the delta aimed at protecting migrating Chinook salmon and other listed fish from influence of the export pumps. No new funding is authorized or appropriated by the bill. While drought is not referenced in the language of this bill, it is clear that any water supply impacts associated with the ESA are more conspicuous because of the drought’s effects on water supplies this year in California. In this third year of drought, all uses of state and federal project water – including the environment – are severely impacted. But while media coverage and editorializing might argue otherwise, the central reason for reduced water supplies in California this year stems from drought, not the implementation of the ESA. It is true that the implementation of the ESA necessarily entails some choices, and requires the dedication of water that in some cases cannot be recovered. But it is not clear that the language of HR 1927, if enacted, would meaningfully change the water supply allocations made by the projects in drought years like 2014.

The Department does not support HR 1927 because it would limit the scope of actions the agencies can take, consistent with the best available science, for operating the state and federal projects in a way that is protective of endangered species. The bill sets an unfavorable precedent of layering a general Congressional policy goal over the top of carefully crafted actions that were developed to comply with the law for the protection of listed fish while still allowing water deliveries to continue. In addition, a section of this bill conflicts with longstanding Reclamation law, specifically Section 8 of the Reclamation Act of 1902. The bill could further complicate project operations in years of drought since many of its provisions, such as the reverse-flow language in Section XX(b)(2), which would potentially interfere with actions necessitated by the specific hydrology of a given year. The Department’s views on HR 1927 are directly informed by the actions that are being taken to address drought, actions promoting sound water management consistent with existing laws, including the ESA, which lead us to the conclusion that these coordinated actions are better able than the measures described in the bill in providing the operational flexibility to maximize the delivery of the limited water supplies available during dry years.

We share the goals of the bill’s sponsor to secure California’s water supplies, but do not believe the approach embodied in HR 1927 advances that objective.