As water crisis worsens, rare Congressional hearing held in Los Angeles
By: Rebecca Kimitch

In a rare congressional hearing held in Los Angeles on Monday, water authorities warned that no matter how much it rains and snows this year, the water woes of farms and cities across the state are far from over.

Without a solution to the ecological crisis in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta - which sits at the heart of the system that carries water from the Sierras to crops, people and industry across the state - water availability will continue to be limited, they said.

And even if a solution is found there, climate change, population growth and aging infrastructure have compounded the problem.

"A couple of days of rain are certainly a nice relief, but they are a reflection of weather impacted by variable ocean conditions and are not the long-term solutions to addressing the issues that underlie our water dilemma," said Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs.

Napolitano headed Monday's hearing of the House Natural Resources Water and Power Subcommittee, at the headquarters of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
She held the hearing in Los Angeles to highlight some of the innovations local communities have developed to deal with the statewide drought.

"The fact that we are talking about a storm track and whether it will bail us out is actually a symptom of the problem that we have, and that problem is that our water management system is no longer keeping up with our needs as a result of climate change, environmental degradation, and lack of sustained investment in the system," said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.

"Our water system can no longer meet the needs of the state. We need a long-term sustainable solution."

While federal and state lawmakers hash out those long-term solutions, San Gabriel Valley officials are stressing the need to focus on efforts to recycle water, clean up contaminated groundwater and conserve.

Such diversification is key for future water reliability, several witnesses told the congressional panel.

The San Diego County Water Authority provides one example for the state. In 1991, the agency relied on water imported by the Metropolitan Water District for 95 percent of its supply. Today that reliance has dropped to 53 percent, and by 2020, the agency expects it will drop to 29 percent.

To replace the imported supplies, the agency has turned to conservation, recycling, desalination and water transfers, among other strategies.

"We are long past the point that a single project or strategy can bail us out. Some might like to say all we need is more conservation. Some might like to say all we need is to build one more reservoir. The fact of the matter is we have to implement all of those options," Snow said.

Snow and others stressed the need for voters to pass an $11 billion water bond in November that would fund a variety of water projects, from reservoirs to water recycling projects.

Part of that bond - $2.25 billion - would be used to improve the ecosystem in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Federal scientists have concluded that the pumps in the Delta that are used to push northern water south are threatening the viability of several endangered species of fish that live in the rivers and their confluence. As a result, judges have ordered limitations on that pumping for more than a year.

Snow estimated Monday that those limitations are resulting in Central Valley farmers receiving about 60 percent of the water they would have otherwise following last week's precipitation.

The top Republican on the subcommittee, Rep. Tom McClintock of Granite Bay, blasted the decision to limit water deliveries in order to protect endangered species.

McClintock accused lawmakers of ignoring "the plight of our nation's bread basket in the San Joaquin Valley."

The cut in water deliveries has resulted in more than 500,000 acres of farmland being fallowed and more than 21,000 jobs being lost, lawmakers from that region said.

"While (Central Valley) communities ... run food lines, with food imported from China, we seem to accept rationing as the way to resolve our water crisis," McClintock said.

Republicans also slammed the committee for not holding the hearing in the Central Valley.

But Napolitano said at least 16 hearings had been held in the northern and central parts of the state over the past decade, but none had been held in the Southland.

"The drought is a statewide concern and demands that all portions of the state be heard from," she said.