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Nunes sends letter to Schwarzenegger and Obama: “I urge you to exercise leadership and act now to mitigate the suffering of my constituents. Failure to act will simply push the SJV unemployment rate above 20% and result in the collapse of civil society.”

Posted by: Maven on February 7, 2009 at 7:12 am

From the Central Valley Business Times:

Federal and state leaders must take immediate action to alleviate human suffering associated with water shortages in the Central Valley, says U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia.

In a letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and President Barack Obama delivered on Friday, Mr. Nunes says if nothing is done to solve the water shortage, nothing less than a “humanitarian disaster with enormous and long-term economic consequences” will result.

He says that on the west side of the Central Valley alone, water shortages will put out of work “more Americans than the entire General Motors workforce.” He says unemployment rates exceeding 40 percent are already decimating communities like Mendota.

“Yet we see no meaningful assistance from the state or federal government. Without action, the situation in the San Joaquin Valley will evolve from one of desperation to one of chaos,” says Mr. Nunes.

Read more from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.

The full text of the letter is available on Rep. Nunes’ website. Here are some excerpts:

Regarding the current water situation, Nunes writes:

There area actions that can be taken. For instance, New Melones Reservoir, which is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation, currently holds nearly 1.2 million acre-feet of water. Historically, water from this reservoir has been used primarily to enhance fisheries in the Stanislaus River. However, current needs demand that this water be made available to farmers and cities outside of the historic place of use, and it is within the discretion of your agencies to enable this change.

In addition, agencies within your respective administrations exercise great discretion in the administration of federal laws, like the Endangered Species Act and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act; or state laws, like the California Water Code. These agencies should be directed to exercise that discretion in a manner that will enable the CVP and the SWP to move water to the farms and cities that depend on these projects. I implore each of you to direct agencies under your control to take all steps necessary to restore water supplies to some sense of normalcy.

He concludes with:

“As you know, the San Joaquin Valley is America’s breadbasket. Our region supplies food and fiber to the world. Communities in the San Joaquin Valley grew on a foundation of a strong agriculture economy, but today many of those communities are withering because of chronic water supply shortages. I do not believe I am exaggerating when I state that people in rural areas of the San Joaquin Valley are facing a humanitarian crisis unparalleled in modern history. Moreover, large urban areas of California are about to experience the hardship endured by these rural communities for the last two decades.

While you cannot reverse decades of bad decisions overnight, you do have options before you today. I urge you to exercise leadership and act now to mitigate the suffering of my constituents. Failure to act will simply push the San Joaquin Valley unemployment rate above 20% and result in the collapse of civil society.”

Read the full text of Representative Devin Nunes’ letter by clicking here.

February 7, 2009 · Filed Under Agriculture, Drought, Weather & Snowpack

Comments

2 Responses to “Nunes sends letter to Schwarzenegger and Obama: “I urge you to exercise leadership and act now to mitigate the suffering of my constituents. Failure to act will simply push the SJV unemployment rate above 20% and result in the collapse of civil society.””

  1. Steve Bloom on February 7th, 2009 4:02 pm

    “I do not believe I am exaggerating when I state that people in rural areas of the San Joaquin Valley are facing a humanitarian crisis unparalleled in modern history.”

    Seriously? Well, if it’s true that those who fail to learn from history are dooomed to repeat it, the Valley is indeed in for a rough ride.

  2. dfb on February 7th, 2009 7:23 pm

    Mr. Nunes should lead rather than whine about what needs to be done. There has been a vacuum of leadership from the farm lobby with regard to how to manage water for all uses. I’m sympathetic to the folks who rely on agriculture for their living but do not think it constructive for Mr. Nunes to parrot the same arguments made for years about releasing water from New Melones, etc. In reality, we need to have a statewide discussion about beneficial and reasonable uses for water. For example, alfalfa and landscaping each consume about 12% of water used in California. Are either beneficial during drought conditions or when water has been limited? Some municipalities still lack meters and most do not have meters for individual residential units. Much of the central valley, including a large portion of the west side (which Mr. Nunes cites in his letter) has poor drainage and salty soil which can and does destroy the soil. Should we even irrigate such soil without a cost effective solution paid for through by the folks who irrigate that soil? Should water reclamation/recycling be required by municipal water users? Ground water resources are being used up faster than the aquifers can refill. Shouldn’t we limit water users from pumping more than the aquifer can replenish itself? In addition, there were limited requirements for users to limit water consumption during the past few years despite drought conditions. There is a whole lot more to the story than Mr. Nunes or most of politicians acknowledge. In the end, Mr. Nunes is just another ineffective voice for change.

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