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<DIV>Rep. Grace Napolitano<BR>Chair, House Subcommittee on Water and
Power<BR>1610 Longworth Bldg<BR>Washington, DC 20515<BR>July 24, 2008</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Dear Rep. Napolitano,<BR> On July 21, 2008, at the suggestion of
subcommittee members from the San Joaquin Valley, you held a field hearing of
the House Subcommittee on Water and Power at Fresno City Hall which
focused on impacts of the drought. You told audience members they could
submit written remarks that would be made part of the hearing record.
Please consider this letter for inclusion in the hearing record.<BR> My
name is Lloyd G. Carter. On June 11, 2005, you visited the California
State University, Fresno campus where the subcommittee held a hearing on
proposals for a multi-billion dollar dam six miles upstream from Friant Dam on
the San Joaquin River. I was a witness before the committee at that time,
at the invitation of Rep. George Radanovich, who was then the chair. I was the
only environmentalist testifying but appreciated the opportunity to expose the
subcommittee to different views. And I was pleased and impressed when I
met you.<BR> I am sorry to inform you I believe the panels that testified
at your July 21, 2008, hearing showed no balance and that the broad general
public was not served by that event. Virtually all of the speakers were
officials of the Westlands Water District, representatives of local communities
in the Westlands, or representatives of water districts in the Friant Unit of
the Central Valley Project. They clearly had their own axes to
grind.<BR> Missing from the panels were: (1) any representative of
environmental interests; (2) any representative of Delta farming; (3) any
representative of the commercial salmon industry, which was put out of business
this year because of the collapse of the fishery; (4) any representative of the
Trinity River Native Americans, who have seen their river destroyed in the
interests of Westlands; (5) not a single representative from the Bay Area; (6)
no one at all from Northern California.<BR> As a result, many of the
panelists who did testify were able to freely misrepresent, distort, and
exaggerate facts, and spread outright lies, half truths and fabrications,
without any countervailing voices to set the record straight or offer an
alternative view. The hearing that was supposed to be about impacts of the
drought on rural communities turned into a cheerleading session for the
Temperance Flat Dam, intemperate attacks on federal judges and "radical"
environmentalists, and a call for more Northern California water for Westlands
even as the Delta continues to decline. The hearing turned out to be
little more than a publicity stunt. <SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR> I know you had no involvement
in the selection of the panel speakers but as the chair of the committee I hope
that when you personally convene future field hearings on California water
issues that you take special care to see that ALL voices are represented,
not just those of local agribusiness.<BR> I also recommended you take the
following actions:<BR> 1. The drainage crisis in the Westlands remains
unsolved after half a century. Nobody at the July 21 hearing pointed out
that speakers were calling for more water deliveries to Westlands to continue
irrigation of high selenium soils totaling 379,000 acres, which U.S. government
scientists say should be taken out of production. I suggest you hold a hearing
on this issue.<BR> 2. Westlands claims to have 600 "growers" but has
never provided Congress with a list of growers to show which entities are
contracting for water from the District and whether those various business
entities have the same ownership. You should request from the district such a
list, showing which entities contracting for water have interlocking
directorates or the same ownership. For example, Stewart Woolf, who did
testify at the July 21 hearing, pointed out that his father, Jack Woolf, six
children and 24 grandchildren all run the family enterprise. That is 31 people,
or five percent of the district, controlling one major farming operation. If you
investigated this matter you would find that 30 or 40 family dynasties in
Westlands control a large percentage of land in the district. There is
precedent for this. In 1985, the California Legislature commissioned a
study of 42,000 acres in Westlands threatened by the cutoff of drainage due to
the poisoning of the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge by the tainted drainage
from those 42,000 acres. It turned out the 42,000 acres was dominated by a
few multi-millionaire growers. And I'm sure you already know the Westlands
is the most heavily subsidized federal irrigation district in America with the
most pollution problems<BR> 3. If you are really concerned about the
longterm welfare of farmworker families I urge you to hold hearings on the lack
of clean, adequate drinking water in many farmworker communities in the San
Joaquin Valley, a problem which existed before the current drought and will
continue afterwards. Concern for the health of farmworkers should be as
great as concern for their jobs.<SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><BR> 4. You should be aware
that the State Water Resources Control Board has issued permits for five times
as much water as actually exists in the system. You should be aware that
distribution of water in the Central Valley Project is based on a priority
system and Westlands is at the end of the bucket line. When whatever water
available in a given year is distributed to the senior water rights holders then
Westlands gets what is left. Westlands has known this since it signed a
contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in 1963. Growers who in
recent years have planted permanent crops in Westlands did so at their own
economic risk.<BR> 5. If you are interested in protecting the
integrity of Delta water drinking supplies and protecting the Delta's fishery,
you need to broaden the discussion at subcommittee field hearings in order to
provide the public with a larger perspective than that pushed by the local
congressmen who are simply playing to their local constituencies. A field
hearing is needed immediately.<BR> Rep. Napolitano, I retain faith that
when you personally decide to hold field hearings that you will provide all
California interests an opportunity to share their views about what is necessary
to protect the Delta, farming, and drinking water supplies.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> My best
regards,<BR> <BR> Lloyd G. Carter<BR> director, California
Water Impact Network<BR> <A href="">www.c-win.org</A> <SPAN
class=Apple-converted-space> </SPAN><A
href="">www.lloydgcarter.com</A><BR> 2863 Everglade Ave.<BR> Clovis,
CA 93619 </DIV>
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