Why are Republicans in Congress fighting for more water for farmers?.
The drought may be over and Central Valley farmers are getting more water than they have in years, but that hasn’t stopped congressional Republicans from resurrecting a bill that would strip environmental protections for fish so more water can be funneled to agriculture.
After passing the House of Representatives last week, the bill faces near-certain death in the Senate, where California Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris still have the power to kill it.
And, last year, with Feinstein’s support, farmers succeeded in pushing through a controversial bill easing some of the environmental restrictions on pumping water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for delivery to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities.
“You just can’t keep your eye off the ball.” Amaral’s farmers are getting 100 percent allocation this year from the federal government’s Central Valley Project, which delivers water to much of the Central Valley.
The bill also strips Central Valley wildlife refuges of critical water deliveries in dry years, according to conservation groups; and it shunts more water from the imperiled Klamath River watershed to Central Valley farmland.
Related stories from The Sacramento Bee These farmers say they may not pay for Delta tunnels pushed by Gov.
“Right now, the odds are basically zero because … the Democrats will not go against the home-state senators,” Nunes said.
As of June 1, 2017, the central Sierra snowpack had about ten times more water than it did on the same day in 2016.
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