California Republicans have sent a letter to President Obama and Governor Brown, urging them to “take immediate action to mitigate the catastrophic effects of another natural drought exacerbated by environmental regulations.” The recent dry years have been exacerbated by environmental restrictions on Delta water supplies and this has left the reservoirs in “terrible shape,” they say, and these burdensome regulations have been exercised without recognition of the severe economic consequences.
“We urge your administration to immediately take action to improve California’s water supplies in 2014, while also respecting California’s long-standing principles of water right priorities and area of origin protections. We also call on your administrations to work with their respective legislative bodies to develop and implement comprehensive plans to address water supply, reliability, and affordability for 2014 and into the future. A successful water plan must include additional storage and assured protection of water right priorities and area of origin protections.
Finally, you must ensure that any unanticipated water supplies be put to productive use for California’s families and farms, not lost to the Pacific Ocean due to environmental regulations. Failure to increase water supplies in California will jeopardize America’s breadbasket and our state’s trillion-dollar economy.”
Congressman David Valadao and State Senator Jean Fuller lead off the signature list which includes all 15 California congressional Republicans, and 34 of the 37 state Republican legislators. Not signing the letter was State Senator Bill Emmerson, and State Assemblymembers Kristin Olsen and Shannon Grove.
Read the full test of the letter here: CA Delegation Letter FINAL
