House Natural Resources Committee

Water, Wildlife and Fisheries Subcommittee

Legislative Field Hearing on H.R. 215 "WATER for California Act" and H.R. 872 "FISH Act"

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 21:00:00 GMT

On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. PDT, at the World Ag Expo, 4500 S Laspina St # 214, Tulare, CA 93274, the Committee on Natural Resources, Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries will hold a legislative field hearing on the following bills:

  • H.R. 215 (Rep. Valadao) “Working to Advance Tangible and Effective Reforms for California Act” or the “WATER for California Act”.
  • H.R. 872 (Rep. Calvert) “Federally Integrated Species Health Act” or the “FISH Act”.

Hearing memo

Invited witnesses:
  • Debra Haaland, Secretary, Department of the Interior (or their designees from the Bureau of Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
  • Gina Raimondo, Secretary, Department of Commerce (or their designee from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
  • Charlton Bonham, Director, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
  • Tony DeGroot, Farmer, DG Bar Ranches, Hanford, California
  • Aaron Fukuda, General Manager, Tulare Irrigation District, Tulare, California
  • Jason Phillips, Chief Executive Officer, Friant Water Authority, Lindsay, California
  • Jeff Sutton, General Manager, Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, Willows, California
  • Chris White, Executive Director, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, Los Banos, California
  • Additional witnesses TBA

H.R. 215, sponsored by the entire House California Republican delegation, extends West-wide water storage provisions such as Section 4007 of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act (Subtitle J of Public Law 114-322) through December 31, 2028. Some of the projects authorized under these provisions include: Shasta Dam and Reservoir Enlargement Project in California (additional 634,000 AF of storage), Sites Reservoir Storage Project in California (1.5 million AF of storage), Los Vaqueros Reservoir Phase 2 Expansion in California (additional 115,000 AF of storage), Cle Elum Pool Raise in Washington state (additional 14,600 AF of storage) and Anderson Ranch Dam Raise in Idaho (additional 29,000 AF of storage). The WIIN provision allows a non-governmental entity to request and be the non-federal partner for federally owned surface storage projects.

In addition, the bill would require the CVP and SWP to be operated consistent with the 2019 BiOps and Preferred Alternative, set during the Trump administration. The bill would allow for modification of CVP and SWP operations based on any agreement that is reached on a voluntary basis with CVP and SWP water contractors. It would also prohibit any water supply costs from being imposed on any entity due to agreements with other parties unless voluntarily agreed to.

In addition, the bill would require the federal government to provide the maximum amount of water practicable to CVP and SWP water contractors consistent with the 2019 BiOps. The bill includes safeguards for SWP water contractors. Specifically, if California reduces water supplies to SWP water contractors as a result of actions directed by H.R. 215, then any increase of water supplies received by CVP water contractors must be divided between the two projects. H.R. 215 would amend the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA, P.L. 117-58) to make the Shasta Dam Raise eligible to receive water storage project funding in that law. IIJA included $1.15 billion for storage projects but made the Shasta Project ineligible. Lastly, it would direct the Secretary of the Interior to complete the fish, wildlife, and habitat restoration programs required under the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA or P.L. 102-575) within 2 years of enactment of this Act.

H.R. 872, authored by Representative Calvert (R-CA), has six cosponsors: Reps. Jim Costa (DCA), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Tom McClintock (R-CA), Jay Obernolte (R-CA), Mike Simpson (RID) and Michelle Steele (R-CA). H.R. 872 would consolidate the ESA functions of NOAA and the Department of the Interior (Interior) relating to the conservation of anadromous and catadromous fish, making Interior solely responsible for managing these species. This legislation will allow one wildlife management agency (USFWS) to evaluate impacts on species interacting in a shared ecosystem and determine a holistic management approach.