The Delta Counties Coalition (DCC), of which Contra Costa County is a vital member, is in the preliminary planning stages for an advocacy trip to Washington D.C. trip in the March/April timeframe. If the DCC goes to Washington D.C. the week of March 14, San Joaquin is available and Sacramento is not. Contra Costa, Solano and Yolo counties can decide to attend. If DCC goes to Washington D.C. around April 14-20 (near Cap-to-Cap & One Voice), San Joaquin and Yolo counties will have Supervisorial representation there.
Key Issues for Potential DCC Trip to Washington:
BoR Notice of Intent to Prepare a Draft EIS – Revisions to the Coordinated Long-Term CVP & SWP Operations
Background: On December 29, 2017, the Bureau of Reclamation announced its intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement (EIS) for analyzing potential modifications to the continued long-term operation of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP). According to Reclamation, the Agency will analyze potential changes to CVP/SWP operations to achieve, among other things, maximization of water supply deliveries, including considering new and/or modified storage and export facilities. As part of this action, Reclamation will review and consider modifications to regulatory requirements, including existing Reasonable and Prudent Alternative actions identified in the Biological Opinions issued by the USFWS and NMFS in 2008 and 2009, respectively.
DCC Discussion Points: The DCC will discuss with both federal regulators and lawmakers the potential detrimental impacts to the Delta (including the ecosystem at large, as well as the region’s agriculture) that would result from actions designed to increase CVP/SWP exports. The DCC will emphasize that any proposed alternative action(s) that emerge from Reclamation’s environmental review must do no damage to the Delta and should be consistent with the co-equal goals of the Delta Reform Act, as well as conform to the State’s goal of reduced reliance on the Delta.
HR 23 – Gaining Responsibility on Water Act (Rep. Valadao)
Background: HR 23, which passed the House last July on a near-party line vote, remains active in the current session of Congress. Bill sponsors are pushing the Senate to take action, though Senators Feinstein and Harris have thus far resisted efforts to advance the legislation. Among other things, HR 23 would mandate that operation of the CVP and SWP conform to the water quality and operational constraints of the 1994 Bay-Delta Accord, regardless of the requirements of the Endangered Species Act, or any other environmental law.
DCC Discussion Points: Coalition comments would be similar to the DCC’s approach to Reclamation’s review of CVP/SWP operations, with a finer point on the damage that HR 23 would do to the Delta.
Infrastructure Package
Background: Infrastructure is expected to receive significant attention on Capitol Hill early this year. Lending credence to the notion that lawmakers will tackle a major public works package in 2018, Trump administration officials in December signaled that further details of the president’s infrastructure plan will be made available in January, though we are now hearing that mid-February is more likely. While the source of funding remains an open question – as well as a likely point of contention between lawmakers and the administration – there appears to be positive momentum for approving resources for various public works projects, including water infrastructure. On a related matter, Congress will look to reauthorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) in 2018. Hearings are planned for the early part of the session, with potential draft legislation emerging from the committees of jurisdiction in the coming months.
DCC Discussion Points: The DCC will advocate for robust federal investment in water infrastructure within the context of the aforementioned broader public works bill and WRDA 2018. The DCC will continue to promote the need for innovative, federally backed, low-interest, long-term loan programs (such as EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program), and will promote the establishment of a similar program under the purview of the Bureau of Reclamation. The DCC also will request that Congress authorize the Corps to participate in the development and implementation of a variety of critically important water resource-related projects within the Delta. Additionally, the DCC will continue to advocate for provisions that would bar federally-backed financing from being used to support construction of the twin tunnels project.
NFIP Reauthorization
Background: The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has been operating under a series of short-term extensions since the last multi-year authorization of the program expired on September 30 of last year. The latest NFIP extension is slated to expire on January 19. While there is a general consensus that Congress must act to provide long-term programmatic certainty, passage of a new, comprehensive NFIP bill has been thwarted by disagreements among members regarding how to renew the program without causing premiums to skyrocket for consumers in coastal areas.
DCC Discussion Points: The DCC supports a long-term NFIP reauthorization that improves the affordability, transparency, and financial stability of the program. In addition, the DCC supports efforts designed to ensure that accurate flood maps are made available, and that a transparent process is used in updating flood maps nationwide.
Westlands Drainage Settlement
Background: Legislation that would ratify a 2015 settlement agreement between the United States and Westlands Water District is pending in Congress. The bill (HR 1769), sponsored by Representative Valadao, would eliminate the statutory requirement for the federal government to provide drainage services for farmland irrigated within Westlands’ boundaries in exchange for removing the district’s CVP repayment obligation. The legislation also would provide Westlands with a permanent water contract, and reduce its contract amount by 25 percent. Congress and the president have until January 15, 2018 to approve legislation implementing the settlement agreement. While that deadline is likely to pass without resolution to the issue, the federal judge who has approved prior extensions warned in approving the last one-year extension, “The buck is being passed from Congress to Congress, and the Court will not continue to enable this pattern of delay. There will be no further extensions past January 15, 2018.”
DCC Discussion Points: The DCC has serious concerns regarding the Westlands settlement agreement and the implementing legislation. Among other things, the Delta Counties are concerned that the agreement will result in increased water exports from the Delta and does not include a comprehensive drainage solution, including performance measures and enforcement tools as required by Congress and upheld by the Courts when the San Luis Unit of the CVP was authorized and constructed. The agreement and implementing legislation also fall short of previous responsible calls for land retirement, requiring only 100,000 acres of retirement rather than the 300,000 acres originally recommended by the Department of the Interior.
Targeted Meetings:
Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation
Primary Issue: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations)
Council on Environmental Quality
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package (support for the SRFs and WIFIA)
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); HR 23; Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
Senator Kamala Harris
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); HR 23; Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
Joint Congressional Meeting (Reps. Thompson, Garamendi, McNerney, Matsui, DeSaulnier, Bera, and Eshoo)
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
Representative Jared Huffman (Ranking Member of the Water, Power, and Oceans Subcommittee)
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
NOTE: Representative Huffman has been a leading opponent of HR 1769
Representative Tom McClintock
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
Representative Doug LaMalfa
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
Representative Jeff Denham
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA; and, HR 1769
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee
Primary Issues: Infrastructure Package/WRDA
Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
Infrastructure Package/WRDA
U. S. Army Corps of Engineers
Primary Issues: Reclamation’s Programmatic EIS (CVP & SWP Operations); Infrastructure Package/WRDA
Note: The Corps also has been asked to be a Cooperating Agency for purposes of the EIS
White House/OMB
Primary Issues: Infrastructure Package/WRDA; NFIP Reauthorization |