California Drought Mixes Politics and Water

The U.S. House passed legislation on Feb. 5 that will restore the flow of water to farms, homes and businesses in California’s Central Valley. California’s entire Republican delegation sponsored the legislation, H.R. 3964, that seeks to restore a 1994 agreement called the Bay-Delta Accord that found a compromise between environmentalists and the water needs of homeowners and industry.

In 2009, the Obama administration upset that agreement by requiring the diversion of water away from farmers and residents to help ensure enough water for salmon and a three-inch fish called the Delta smelt. The Obama administration justified this under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), but California Republicans say this decision led to a government-created drought.

“The current California drought is a crisis exacerbated by the failure of government to recognize the damage it can cause when it gets in between our country’s farmers and a critical resource needed to supply food to our nation and economic growth in the Central Valley,” House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said this week. “The government has decided that, rather than follow a law on the books since 1994 that secures adequate water to the Central Valley, protecting a fish is more important.”

The White House announced the President will travel to Fresno this week to discuss the drought and federal efforts to deal with it. Congressman Devin Nunes of Tulare said, “I welcome the president to the Valley, as long as he’s going to tell us which way he’s going to get us water. We don’t need press conferences. We need action by the Senate and a signature by him.”

“The good thing for Obama is the expectations for him have dropped considerably,” said a Claremont McKenna College professor, recalling the president’s 2008 campaign speech about slowing sea level rise and healing the planet. “Nowadays nobody thinks Obama can make it rain.”