Water stakeholders discuss regulatory woes at hearing

By Christine Souza 

California’s role in U.S. food security took center stage last week at a congressional field hearing in the Central Valley, where lawmakers and industry experts discussed impacts of environmental regulations on agricultural water needs.

U.S. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., chairman of the House of Representatives Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries, said the purpose of the Friday hearing in Santa Nella was to highlight the importance of San Joaquin Valley agriculture and discuss damage caused by political vs. scientific water management.

Panel witness Jason Phillips, CEO of the Friant Water Authority, which operates and maintains the Friant-Kern Canal, said regulatory decisions and legislative inaction have forced the state away from water abundance.

“These decisions have been taking water away from farms and communities—and in increasing quantities—yet have made no discernible change to help species populations,” Phillips said. “Unelected officials at regulatory agencies are delegated the responsibility for being the final decisionmakers on one of the most significant public policy issues we face in the state of California, and that is how to best allocate the state’s limited water resources.”

Ronda Lucas, a water and environmental attorney, pointed to the impact of the federal Endangered Species Act on water resources in California as agency officials impose measures that restrict water use to protect species.

“The law requires the best available science, but the agencies get to dictate what that science is, and that is driving all of our problems,” she said.

Members of Congress questioned panel witnesses about water allocation decisions by federal fisheries agencies.

Allison Febbo, general manager of Westlands Water District, a water contractor with the federal Central Valley Project, suggested that agencies address water uncertainty through a balanced approach.

“There is a level of uncertainty and a lack of clarity in how these (agency) decisions are made, so when they are making an allocation, they assume the worst,” Febbo said.

San Joaquin Valley farmer William Bourdeau called for timely and transparent water management that reflects real-time conditions. This year, despite historic rainfall and snowpack, he said, delays by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to issue a timely water allocation had “far-reaching and devastating consequences.”

In late June, Reclamation increased the CVP water allocation for south-of-delta contractors from 40% to 50% of their contracted amount, while north-of-delta contractors received 100% of their supplies.

“By the time a modest increase was announced, it was too late for growers to adjust their plans for the year,” Bourdeau said. “These delays impact not just farms but the entire agricultural supply chain, including buyers and processors who need a reliable water-supply forecast to secure their operations.”

Failure to issue a water allocation until March or later results in lost contracts, lost jobs and idle equipment, Bourdeau said.

“The ripple effect extends throughout our community, threatening the stability of our local economies that depend on agriculture,” he said.

“The scarcity of water caused by mismanagement is not just a problem for farmers, it is a problem for everyone,” Bourdeau added. “It artificially inflates the cost of basic food items disproportionately affecting low-income families and the most vulnerable members of our society.”

The discussion turned to the bureau’s draft environmental impact statement, or EIS, which guides the long-term operation of the CVP and the State Water Project. The draft guides decisions on water pumping through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Released in July, the document considers revised operations of dams, power plants and related facilities to protect ESA-listed fish species and habitat.

Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, asked panelists about the EIR. He noted he and other lawmakers sent a letter to Reclamation officials last week saying the draft EIS prioritizes environmental goals at the expense of municipal and agricultural water needs.

Febbo said Westlands is concerned about the draft biological opinion, adding there are many questions about how the operations would work.

The 2019 biological opinion, Febbo said, was developed with the best available science and did not result in jeopardy of fish species. The Trump-era biological opinion was litigated by environmental groups and the state of California. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration began drafting new regulations.

“The 2019 biological opinion was the first time in the last three decades that a regulatory change would have improved the reliability of our project,” Phillips said. “The new biological opinion will continue the trend of past decades and take an overly conservative approach to ESA compliance and further reduce the ability to deliver contract water.”

Panelists called for more urgency to advance water infrastructure improvements to increase the water supply, such as plans to raise Shasta Dam and build Sites Reservoir, a proposed off-site reservoir west of Colusa that would hold 1.5 million acre-feet of water.

“Adding storage allows more flexible water management, which results in more water supplies,” Febbo said. She said the joint CVP-SWP San Luis Reservoir was intended to be filled in the winter and drained in the summer when demand for water is highest.

“This year, we’re seeing (San Luis Reservoir) above 400,000 acre-feet, which is a couple hundred thousand acre-feet higher than it needs to be,” Febbo said. “We see that as a waste of water that could have been allocated, and if by chance next year is wet, it will be spilled out into the ocean.”

Phillips said he recognizes the need to bolster the state’s surface water and groundwater supplies. But he added, “Without regulatory reform to stop the uncontrolled, unending taking of California’s water supplies in pursuit of the proven failed approach to recover endangered species, there is no amount of new infrastructure, recycling efficiency or any other form of water supply development that can bring us to a place of abundance.”

California subcommittee members Reps. John Duarte, R-Modesto, Tom McClintock, R-Elk Grove, and Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, were joined by Reps. Valadao and Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield. The Bureau of Reclamation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration did not respond to invitations to testify at the field hearing, Bentz said.

(Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com.)