Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 16, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Species protections debated amid water shortage
The Fresno
By Michael Doyle
Farmers face long odds in their drive to loosen strict environmental laws that have aggravated the Valley's water shortage.
On Wednesday, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar rejected what he called a "quick-fix, run-over-everything kind of approach," and instead called for a comprehensive solution to the state's water problems. He specifically ruled out seeking help from a special committee that can overrule environmental protections.
"That is not the solution here," Salazar said during a stop in
With double-digit Valley unemployment and federal irrigation deliveries slashed to zero south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, some say money won't be enough.
Nine
A federal committee dubbed the "God Squad" that's empowered to override species protections has done so only once in the committee's 31-year history. The seven-member committee is composed of top agency administrators, including the secretaries of agriculture and interior.
Democratic congressional leaders support existing key environmental laws.
"There are no silver bullets that will solve all of
Miller is a close adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He is a former chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, and remains an influential West Coast voice on the panel that's now chaired by a West Virginian, Democratic Rep. Nick Rahall.
In February, Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, introduced a bill to exempt two federal pumping plants near Livermore and Tracy from the environmental law during drought emergencies. He was joined by eight other Valley lawmakers.
"The draconian regulations that turn simple fish into the worshipped gods of the environmental community and ignore the inalienable rights of people have led us to conclude that government does not work for us anymore," Radanovich testified last month.
A subcommittee of Rahall's panel conducted a broader hearing last month into
"There is generally strong support for the ESA," said Robert Irwin, the Defender of Wildlife's senior vice president for conservation programs. He cited the "change in Congress and the administration."
The Interior Department has some power to act on its own, as lawmakers including Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, have urged.
In 2002, tens of thousands of protected salmon and steelhead trout died in the Lower Klamath River after water levels were drawn down to provide more irrigation deliveries to Klamath Basin farmers. The shift of water was later revealed to have been a political priority of the Bush administration, prompting multiple investigations and at least one lawsuit.
A less overtly political route is available through the seven-member God Squad, more formally known as the Endangered Species Committee. The panel can decide "whether to allow a federal action to proceed despite jeopardy to a species," the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service noted, before adding that "it has been little used."
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1333686.html
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