Re: HR1837 Sen. Feinstein's reply and a few comments

Posted by Mike McKenzie on 2012-03-07 11:56:23 in reply to HR1837 Sen. Feinstein's reply posted by Doug Jeffries on 2012-03-06 10:53:38

Dear Mr. McKenzie: Thank you for writing to express your opposition to the "San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act." I appreciate the time you took to write and welcome the opportunity to respond. On May 11, 2011, Representative Devin Nunes (R-CA) introduced the "San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act" (H.R.1837). This legislation would waive and preempt the California Endangered Species Act (ESA), undermine the federal ESA, and repeal the 2009 San Joaquin River Restoration Act. H.R. 1837 is currently awaiting action in the House Committee on Natural Resources. As you may know, on June 7, 2011, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and I wrote a letter to members of the House Natural Resources Committee to express our opposition to this legislation. I have attached the letter for your review. I appreciate knowing your opposition to the "San Joaquin Valley Water Reliability Act," and I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind should the Senate consider this or similar legislation during the 112th Congress. Again, thank you for taking the time to write. Should you have any other questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact my Washington, D.C. office at (202) 224-3841. Best regards. Sincerely yours, Dianne Feinstein United States Senator Yeah, well Thank you very much Senator! I'm not so sure that I trust you yet! While she sounds like she's ready to kill the Bill...Here's a quote from her... "It's a very selfish bill," Feinstein said of the House effort in an interview. "It says the farmers get the water, and everybody else be damned." Feinstein, moreover, denounces Nunes' characterizations of her. Nunes has run ads that say Feinstein "defines hypocrisy," and in interviews he has called her a "liar" whose staffers are "radicals" aligned with "radical environmentalists" and the "hippie generation." "In all my life, I've never been exposed to this kind of behavior," Feinstein said. "It says to me he doesn't want to work with me." So it seems that Nunes has Feinstein P.O.'d but the chickens haven't come home to roost just yet! For instance..One scenario is that the California water legislation slides into a broader bill. Authors of the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act used this tactic, by including the measure disliked by California farmers into a politically unassailable package containing some 39 other Western provisions. (We liked those tactics then) "We will continue to look for legislation to attach this to," Nunes said. "I'm not going away." Another scenario is that Feinstein uses her chairmanship of the Senate energy and water appropriations panel to include a few select California water provisions in a must-pass funding bill. Remember what She did late last year, with a few sentences easing water transfers that she slipped into a 1,221-page spending bill. (We didn't like the tactic on that instance) While,it might not satisfy either Nunes or environmentalists or fisherfolks, but by some political calculations it could be the most likely outcome. "I'm not adverse to putting something in energy and water," Feinstein said.(We won't like that either!) We have to definitely keep the pressure on Di Fi. Keep reminding her how bad HR 1837 really is for California as a whole and especially those in southern Ca cities whose water bills will go through the roof, once HR 1837 combined with the worst in the "Dark of the Night Water Bills" passed by our own illustrious legislators 2 years ago, gives the Kern Water Bank (Stewart Resnick) complete control of OUR water! Nuff said. Mike

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