Congressman Dennis Cardoza
18th Congressional District of California

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) and Congressman Jim Costa (D-Fresno) today sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar demanding that the Department increase the flow of water to the San Joaquin Valley. In addition, Cardoza and Costa stressed the need for timeliness and affordability regarding the Valley’s water supply deliveries. Cardoza and Costa’s letter follows the Interior Department’s announcement last week on agricultural water allocations from the federal Central Valley Project.

The letter is as follows:

Dear Secretary Salazar:

First, we want to thank you and your staff, particularly David Hayes, Mike Connor, and Ron Milligan, for your work on administrative actions to provide more water in this critical time.  Because time is of the essence, we would like to follow up on last Thursday's meeting and Friday’s announcement and ask for specifics of the projects that you propose, including when the water will be available and how much it will cost for the water users.  Please understand that this issue remains our absolute highest priority and we will continue to pursue all avenues that will lead us to that end.

The Emergency Temporary Water Supply legislation was drafted specifically to ensure that farmers, farm workers, and farm communities in the Westside of the San Joaquin Valley would receive a 40% Central Valley Project (CVP) water supply allocation in an average water year, which is the contracted amount required for south of Delta agriculture to simply stay alive in 2010, according to our local farmers.  This water allocation would be affordable and based on CVP rates.  Our farmers cannot rely on the expensive and burdensome process of water transfers, which are only used as a last resort to prevent crops from completely withering and drying out. 

  Because this legislation is based on the minimum amount of water necessary to sustain Valley agricultural operations, the initial CVP Water Supply Allocation announcement may not go far enough to provide certainty that water will be provided in a timely and affordable fashion so that crops are planted in this growing season.  While agriculture south of Delta could receive an allocation of 30% if the rain continues in addition to the 10% gained through interim measures, we remain hopeful that this additional allocation will not come too late to be useful.  Our constituents need to know that they will have enough water to grow their crops before making planting decisions and requesting bank loans.  As you know, timing is everything.  Farmers cannot wait one or two more months before they make planning decisions for this year’s crop.  Should the rain stop and the Department ultimately be unable to deliver a 40% allocation with all the additional measures, our farmers will be faced with limited options to make up the difference in needed supply.

We know that we have substantial work ahead of us in addressing the long-term complexities of restoring the Bay-Delta, but this does not take away from the fact that short-term fixes need to be put into place this year and next year while we work out the long term solutions.  The need for timeliness and affordability in the water supply deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley cannot be overstated.  If ultimately too little water comes too late, or if the water is too costly, we do reserve the right to move forward with legislation.

Thank you for your continued efforts to work with us on solving California’s water problems. We look forward to meeting with you to discuss these issues further.

DENNIS CARDOZA                                                                         JIM COSTA
Member of Congress                                                                          Member of Congress