Monday, January 12, 2015

Paul C(r)ook Votes to Allow the Federal Government to Tell California How to Manage its Water for Special Interests (Again)

H.R. 5781, the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2014 gives the US (federal) Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior (Secretaries) emergency authority, subject to existing water rights, to direct the operations of the Central Valley Project (CVP) and allow the State Water Project (SWP) operated by the California Department of Water Resources to provide the maximum quantity of water supplies possible to CVP agricultural, municipal and industrial, and refuge service repayment contractors and SWP contractors--NOTHING is allocated to consumers or businesses or water district in the 8th Congressional District--which is pretty parched. What is more amazing is there is no specified limit to the amount of the diversion [See https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr5781#summary].
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The water in issue is all intrastate (e.g. within the state) so where does Congress find jurisdiction for this take away for special interest corporate and institutional users?

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