Mar 12
26
Extending a Hand
Some in the California water wars still insist in reaching across the aisle, extending a hand, working with the other side, etc. At Families Protecting the Valley we are in favor of anything that gets results, but working with the other side hasn’t really been a constructive exercise in our humble opinion.
Others in the California water wars like Congressman Devin Nunes have decided not to work with the other side, but to beat them. The people who have put years into the effort to put the Water Bond on the ballot are getting what they always get when they ‘extend a hand’: it gets chopped off. This is no suprise to us. Some of us worked with the other side on the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement in 2009 against the wishes of Congressman Nunes only to find that he was right again and we got doublecrossed before the ink was dry on the deal.
By ‘the other side’, we mean those primarily in the environmental community who seem more interested in punishing beneficial users like farmers than helping the environment. When millions of acre-feet are being diverted supposedly for helping a particular species, and it does no good whatsoever, then the water should be made available to beneficial users such as communities, businesses, and farms.
In previous decades, there was a bipartisan effort with Democrats such as Governor Pat Brown and local Democratic Congressman B.F. Sisk who spearheaded responsible water projects that benefited all of society.
Now, it seems most Democrats and even East Coast Republicans simply kowtow to the most outrageous of environmental demands.
Water is a public resource and every user should be required to be responsible, even environmentalists.
Congressman Nunes has pushed H.R. 1837 through the House and says it will be sent to the Senate as many times as they can throughout the course of the year. There are a number of Democrat Senators who look to be in trouble in the upcoming election and might be pursuaded to join forces on this vote. We would hope that all in the farming community would support Mr. Nunes in his effort. Yet, some of the very same people who are in support of the Water Bond did not support H.R. 1837…
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