April 27, 2010
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressmen Jim Costa
(D-Fresno) and Dennis Cardoza (D-Merced) today sent a
letter to Commerce Secretary Locke, calling on the
Department to exercise greater flexibility in
implementing the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
biological opinion that is diverting water that could be
flowing to the Valley into the Pacific Ocean.
“The biological opinions restricting the flow of water
to the Valley are flawed and must be reformed,” said
Costa. “Until then, the pumps should operate at the
highest levels so our Valley receives as much water as
possible. Every acre-foot of water is valuable and
contributes to the economic health of our region.”
Currently, stored water is being released from Shasta
Reservoir, because the reservoir is nearly full, and
storage capacity is needed for flood protection.
However, this water cannot be rediverted downstream in
the Delta due to pumping restrictions imposed under the
biological opinion issued by NMFS in June of 2009. As a
result, tens of thousands of acre-feet of water are now
flowing into the ocean. Flexibility in implementation
of the NMFS biological opinion would allow more of this
sorely needed water to reach the Valley.
At the urging of Congressmen Costa and Cardoza, the
Department of the Interior has already been more
flexible in implementing the 2008 Fish & Wildlife
Service biological opinion for Delta smelt, which
allowed more water to be moved south of the Delta from
January through March of this year. It is critical,
especially with over 100% snowpack in the Sierras, that
the Commerce Department demonstrate similar flexibility.
The time to act is now, while the water can be used
productively.
Costa and Cardoza have long spoken out against the
flawed biological opinions restricting water for the
Valley. To address this issue, Costa and Cardoza
introduced legislation, H.R. 3999, to force the Bureau
of Reclamation to “re-consult” on the two biological
opinions under the Endangered Species Act so that the
stressors like dumping sewage and non-native species are
taken into account and more water flows to the Valley.
The letter, signed by Congressmen Costa and Cardoza as
well as Senator Feinstein, can be found
here .
