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<h5 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span class=vitstoryheadline><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";font-style:normal'>Lift
water restrictions, Southern California lawmakers tell Congress<o:p></o:p></span></span></h5>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>The
Riverside Press – Enterprise – 4/02/09</span><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By
Ben Goad<span class=vitstorybody> </span></span></b><span class=vitstorybody><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span class=vitstorybody><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>WASHINGTON
- With California in the throes of drought, Congress must act quickly to ease
federal pumping restrictions that are negatively affecting the state's already
shrinking water supply, Inland Rep. Ken Calvert testified Tuesday. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Calvert,
R-Corona, was among a handful of California Republicans who spoke out in favor
of easing the restrictions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Pumps
in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the core of the state's water system, have
been virtually halted under a federal ruling to protect threatened and
endangered fish species, including the Delta smelt. The tiny silver smelt,
found only in that estuary, are sucked into the powerful pumps that move water
uphill into canals that carry it south. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Federal
scientists say the smelt, believed to be an indicator of the overall health of
the Delta, are close to extinction. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Calvert
and other House Republicans said the restrictions amount to the federal
government putting the well-being of fish before people, who are suffering from
the affects of a third consecutive year of drought in the Golden State. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger on Feb. 27 declared a statewide emergency due to drought
and warned of the possibility of water rationing. Meanwhile, recent estimates
show that about 250,000 acre-feet -- more than 83 billion gallons -- of water
have been lost to the Pacific Ocean because of the smelt ruling, Calvert said. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"Absent
the federal restrictions, the quarter-million acre-feet of water could have
been exported to water users throughout the state," Calvert said.
"This is enough water to meet the water needs of half a million people for
a year." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Calvert
made his remarks during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing to address
the state's drought. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Democrats,
who control Congress, appeared unlikely to lift the restrictions, which were
grounded in the Endangered Species Act. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Instead,
the panel's Democrats pressed for a multifaceted strategy to combat the drought
through water recycling, desalination and better water-storage programs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"We
must look toward a comprehensive solution," said Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto.
"We're at a critical time right now with the drought. We have to look at
the effect it's having on California right now . . . and especially the Inland
Empire." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Still,
Calvert and others said turning the pumps back on is a needed short-term
solution for a problem that is only getting worse. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>He
said water rationing will probably occur, and that will drive up the cost of
water at a time when the state and national economies are already in crisis. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"Folks,
get ready, your water prices are going to skyrocket," Calvert told
reporters before the hearing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>To
drive home their point, the Republican witnesses at the hearing -- who included
Reps. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, George Radonovich, R-Fresno, and Wally Herger,
R-Chico -- brought with them a fishbowl containing several Delta smelt and
placed it on the table during the hearing. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>As
he finished his testimony, Nunes said he wanted to submit the fish for the
official record. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"You
can have them, we don't want them," Nunes told Rep. Grace Napolitano,
D-Santa Fe Springs, who headed the meeting. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Napolitano
responded, "Thank you for your testimony, and I suggest you take the cover
off so they can get some air." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Staff writer Janet Zimmerman
contributed to this report.</span><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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