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[XiaNaphryz]

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/California-s-congressional-Republicans-demand-6586794.php

WASHINGTON — The Republican members of California's delegation are demanding a government plan to store the deluge of water that could come with El Nino this winter.

Fourteen GOP lawmakers will send a letter to President Barack Obama and Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday asking for specifics about how federal and state agencies expect to capture, save and transport water.

A new federal forecast released last week showed El Nino is continuing to strengthen, with experts saying it's on track to potentially produce record rainfall across the state.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the governor has opposed a plan approved by the House, and the Senate hasn't proposed one of its own.

"We need him to offer up solutions," Nunes said in an interview Wednesday. "If it does rain this winter and we let it all go to the ocean again like we did three years ago, the whole state is going to run out of water. A plan is not opposing what we're trying to propose. He has a responsibility as the governor of California to come clear with what his plan is."

He said that without a plan, Brown should identify which farms and homes are going to lose and what land is going out of production.

"It's either-or. You show us how you're going to get the water, or you show us the impacts and how we're going to deal with the impacts," Nunes said.

The delegation letter specifically asks what plans federal and state agencies have in place to capture precipitation from El Nino, or what the timeline is to develop a plan if one doesn't already exist. It also asks if the agencies would lift regulations that have limited water exports from northern California to central and southern California.

"We believe that federal and state environmental policies and regulations have negatively impacted California's current situation by denying us the ability to capture water for human use and consumption now and to better prepare ourselves for situations likes the current drought," reads the letter, obtained by the Los Angeles Times.

California Natural Resources Agency spokesman Nancy Vogel said by email that the agency is updating its strategic plan to address the chance that the winter months bring a lot of precipitation to the state.

"If we do see heavy precipitation like that of the winters of 1982-83 or 1997, the capacity of the federal and state water projects — not water quality or environmental regulations — is likely to be the limiting factor on how much water is moved into storage," she said.

Rep. Ed Royce, R-Calif., said he hopes the letter prompts state and federal agencies to make it easier to get permits needed to move water south.

"This is a last gasp effort before a lot of additional farms going into bankruptcy," he said.

California Department of Water Resources spokesman Ted Thomas said it is up to the federal government whether some of those regulations are lifted during the drought, particularly those that limit water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

"Relaxing those environmental protections (and) regulations is still being discussed," he said. "It's not up to us. That's a political decision."

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., said California needs to build an infrastructure to store water and get through the drought.

"We have been begging the political powers that be in California for the last 20 years to build a water-positive infrastructure and instead, they have to wait until there is a huge drought to do that," he said.

The state agencies cautioned against too much optimism that heavy rain will resolve the drought.

"A wet year is no guarantee, and even one year will not be enough," Thomas said.

 

[uncelestial]

Really not a bad idea. Kind of weird to agree with Republicans on this but using science to help a water shortage is a noble endeavor.

I've long thought we should be building a water pipeline system across the country the way we have an oil pipeline. The way climate change works is floods in some areas, permanent drought/desertification in others. The ability to capture and redistribute water would be a great infrastructure investment.

The brown portion is thirsty.

 

[butalala]

Why don't they offer their own plan?

 

[Guevara]

 

[GaimeGuy]

Oh now they want the government to be involved in dealing with wide scale phenomena in the climate, with disaster already upon them.


Jesus Christ republicans.

 

[Alex_Mexico]

Really not a bad idea. Kind of weird to agree with Republicans on this but using science to help a water shortage is a noble endeavor.

I wish republicans took science seriously on other things like climate change. Right now I'm in Mexico bracing myself for the world's strongest hurricane in recorded history about to touch land in the next few hours from the southwest and crossing all the way to Texas.

Meanwhile California is dying of drought. Fuck republicans who deny climate change.

 

[User 73706]

These are some trickle-down economics I can get behind.

 

[FStop7]

"Demanding a plan from the government"

As if they aren't part of the government themselves.

"We need him to offer up solutions,"

Where are your solutions?

Such a lame attempt.

 

[Veritigo_X]

This is how republicans will handle climate change. Wait until it's staring them in the face and ask why there haven't been any solutions.

 

[SimleuqiR]

Chicago has the right idea:

https://www.mwrd.org/irj/portal/anonymous/rainbarrel

 

[ReAxion]

now that el nino is upon us you want a plan? not even like, six months ago?

 

[Joey Fox]

Oh now they want the government to be involved in dealing with wide scale phenomena in the climate, with disaster already upon them.


Jesus Christ republicans.

Is California not heavily Democratic? Is the Governor not a Democrat? How about solve the problem instead of assigning blame? Makes sense the Governor, i.e. Executive branch would be questioned by the legislature.

 

[Squirrel Killer]

Why don't they offer their own plan?

Sounds like they (or at least someone) did...

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., said the governor has opposed a plan approved by the House...

"Demanding a plan from the government"

As if they aren't part of the government themselves.

They aren't in power in California.

 

[Hugstable]

Is California not heavily Democratic? Is the Governor not a Democrat? How about solve the problem instead of assigning blame? Makes sense the Governor, i.e. Executive branch would be questioned by the legislature.

California is democratic in most areas except the Central Valley and pretty much all of Central California, which is hardcore conservative.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Send the Benghazi Committee to California. All of that hot air should attract the hurricane.

 

[Trojita]

Really not a bad idea. Kind of weird to agree with Republicans on this but using science to help a water shortage is a noble endeavor.

I've long thought we should be building a water pipeline system across the country the way we have an oil pipeline. The way climate change works is floods in some areas, permanent drought/desertification in others. The ability to capture and redistribute water would be a great infrastructure investment.

The brown portion is thirsty.

This could be easily corrupted with the richer areas getting the most water. Also water transport from East Coast to the West Coast would effect the East coast over time.

 

[ivysaur12]

California is democratic in most areas except the Central Valley and pretty much all of Central California, which is hardcore conservative.

"Hardcore" is a little hyperbolic. There are very few areas of California you could call "hardcore" conservatives in the way that hardcore, neo-conservatism has manifested in the past few decades.

This also isn't a bad idea.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

There's always something cute about "GOP" and "demand" when put in the same sentence.

 

[-Plasma Reus-]

Really not a bad idea. Kind of weird to agree with Republicans on this but using science to help a water shortage is a noble endeavor.

I've long thought we should be building a water pipeline system across the country the way we have an oil pipeline. The way climate change works is floods in some areas, permanent drought/desertification in others. The ability to capture and redistribute water would be a great infrastructure investment.

The brown portion is thirsty.

I don't get how climate works.
Why is the western side dry when the eastern side is so green? It's the same latitude. Is it because the wind comes from the east and the clouds break down over mountains going westward?

Rainfall makes no sense to me.

 

[Suikoguy]

I think they have plans in place for storing water.

 

[Septimus Prime]

Can't really disagree with them.

 

[Trojita]

I don't get how climate works.
Why is the western side dry when the eastern side is so green? It's the same latitude. Is it because the wind comes from the east and the clouds break down over mountains going westward?

Rainfall makes no sense to me.

You should come to the East Coast and feel how humid it is here in the summer. The East Coast has the Gulf Stream which transports an absurd amount of water. It's all in how the ocean currents and streams work.

 

[XiaNaphryz]

Sounds like they did...

This was said plan (note this is an editorial piece, but was the first link I could quickly find):

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-water-bills-20150710-story.html

July 10, 2015

The latest version of a bill by House Republicans to override California's management of its water system and undermine environmental protections — in the name of emergency drought relief and food security — is longer and more detailed than the ones that preceded it, but much the same in its substance: It offers little in the way of actual drought relief and even in years of abundant supply would serve Central Valley agricultural interests with new taxpayer-financed dams.

Like several previous iterations, H.R. 2898 by Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford) is moving forward with no public hearing. The Republican-controlled House, which ought to reject the bill as a big-government boondoggle, is instead likely to pass it and quickly send it on to the Senate.

A competing Democratic bill, H.R. 2983 by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael), has some areas of overlap. Like the Valadao bill, it reasonably calls on the federal government to accelerate feasibility studies for a number of proposed dams that have been stuck for years in the planning phase. Republicans, of course, have faith that the dams will pencil out and will be funded. Many Democrats are convinced that the yield numbers — the amount of additional water that would be stored and the associated dollar cost — would be so paltry as to finally put an end to the discussion.

In other areas, though, the Huffman bill is starkly different and frankly much smarter, focusing on updating federal water policies and practices that today are firmly rooted in outdated, mid-20th century knowledge and technology. It would keep on track a court settlement requiring gradual restoration of an essential state resource, the now dried-up San Joaquin River (Valadao's bill would attempt, somehow, to supersede the agreement), and would keep intact a process under which scientists rather than politicians determine how much flow through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is needed to protect endangered fish species (Valadao's bill would grant Congress micromanagement power over the process; Valadao has acknowledged that his ultimate goal is to repeal the Endangered Species Act). Huffman's bill would demand that a good business case be made for any new infrastructure.

Crises like California's drought can force positive and productive change. Last year offered two such examples: Gov. Jerry Brown demanded and lawmakers passed a bill to finally begin a process to measure and govern the use of groundwater, despite seemingly eternal resistance to such a move by water rights holders. And Brown and the Legislature finalized, and voters approved, a water bond that had been kicked around Sacramento for nearly a decade before coming to the ballot.

But crises can produce bad ideas as well, through panic, opportunism or inattention. The Valadao bill is chock-full of such bad ideas. California is counting on Feinstein not to embrace them, because whatever federal role in water is crafted now, during the drought, will shape the state for decades to come, for good or bad, and whether or not the rains return.

 

[Deleted member 1159]

I don't get how climate works.
Why is the western side dry when the eastern side is so green? It's the same latitude. Is it because the wind comes from the east and the clouds break down over mountains going westward?

Rainfall makes no sense to me.

The gulf stream isn't a straight line based on latitude.

And while we can all fairly thumb our noses at stupid Republicans, I think addressing the drought situation from all angles (including trying to store extra rain this year) is actually smart.

 

[Konka]

I don't get how climate works.
Why is the western side dry when the eastern side is so green? It's the same latitude. Is it because the wind comes from the east and the clouds break down over mountains going westward?

Rainfall makes no sense to me.

Moisture from the topics is a big player in the East, not so much out west.

 

[dr3upmushroom]

Really not a bad idea. Kind of weird to agree with Republicans on this but using science to help a water shortage is a noble endeavor.

I've long thought we should be building a water pipeline system across the country the way we have an oil pipeline. The way climate change works is floods in some areas, permanent drought/desertification in others. The ability to capture and redistribute water would be a great infrastructure investment.

The brown portion is thirsty.

The thing is, they don't care about the conservation of water when it comes to agriculture.

 

[Diablos]

Why don't they offer their own plan?

Because they are Republicans.

 

[Trojita]

Basically your nice weather is fucking you guys over.

 

[Cyan]

Make Enron do it.

 

[uncelestial]

I don't get how climate works.
Why is the western side dry when the eastern side is so green? It's the same latitude. Is it because the wind comes from the east and the clouds break down over mountains going westward?

Rainfall makes no sense to me.

A lot of the brown portion is just rocky. The elevation spike along the Rocky Mountains traps a lot of warm, humid air from the Gulf of Mexico on the Eastern side of the country, and the Atlantic is warm and generates plenty of precipitation. The "trapping effect" is also prevalent in the Pacific Northwest. Everything to the west of the Rockies that isn't the PacNW has problems.

At least that's my impression.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Is California not heavily Democratic? Is the Governor not a Democrat? How about solve the problem instead of assigning blame? Makes sense the Governor, i.e. Executive branch would be questioned by the legislature.

I'm just exasperated about the party in general not giving a damn about the climate or sustainability or preparedness until we reach the brink. I'm on my phone right now, but if I remember to, I will look up the beliefs of these republicans with regards to energy, climate change, water management, disaster relief, city planning, and other environmental/resource management/geographical issues when I get home. I suspect what I find won't be pretty

 

[SimleuqiR]

This was said plan (note this is an editorial piece, but was the first link I could quickly find):

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-water-bills-20150710-story.html

Sneaky assholes.

 

[dabig2]

This was said plan (note this is an editorial piece, but was the first link I could quickly find):

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-water-bills-20150710-story.html

About what I expected from such a...plan from the GOP. I'm surprised they didn't throw in some climate change denying craziness.

 

[uncelestial]

This could be easily corrupted with the richer areas getting the most water. Also water transport from East Coast to the West Coast would effect the East coast over time.

It's better than letting all the riverside areas of the East side of the country flood and letting California, a major agricultural contributor to our food system, dry out. Inaction is not an option. Though you're not wrong that this would be heavily politicized.

 

[Somnid]

He should force them to admit climate change is real.

 

[Trojita]

About what I expected from such a...plan from the GOP. I'm surprised they didn't throw in some climate change denying craziness.

One of their "We offered a plan but they didn't take it" claims always has some ridiculously evil provision snuck in.

 

[dr3upmushroom]

I don't get how climate works.
Why is the western side dry when the eastern side is so green? It's the same latitude. Is it because the wind comes from the east and the clouds break down over mountains going westward?

Rainfall makes no sense to me.

You have arid highlands on one side, with many mountains that create rain shadows and huge river systems on the east.

 

[Shake Appeal]

He should force them to admit climate change is real.

Yeah, they should do a trade. Public acknowledgement of anthropogenic climate change in exchange for a really big bucket.

 

[thefit]

Is California not heavily Democratic? Is the Governor not a Democrat? How about solve the problem instead of assigning blame? Makes sense the Governor, i.e. Executive branch would be questioned by the legislature.

Up until Brown took office and we did away with the stupid redistricting that the GOP had in place wich gave them a majority in the state congress during and before the Terminator years the state was run by Republicans. They did squat as far as governing and ruined the state. We just now are getting shit back in shape here.

 

[Septimus Prime]

This was said plan (note this is an editorial piece, but was the first link I could quickly find):

http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-water-bills-20150710-story.html

I mean, yes, if you want to go with the most pessimistic, politically-motivated outlook, I think the reason for their timing for this has to do with putting forth a difficult--maybe impossible--task for Gov. Brown, and the reason I think that is because of the alternative solution they're demanding: namely a cost analysis of what the state will lose without a plan.

So this puts Brown in a tough position. Either he has to come up with plan super quickly, which I assume is no easy task, or he has to outline how much water will be lost without a plan. And if he does the latter, I'll bet these same people will start to question why he denied their plan.

None of this changes that there still should be a plan for how to deal with droughts current and in the future, though.

 

[Dan]

Sounds like they (or at least someone) did...



They aren't in power in California.

This story is about national legislation, not a legislative battle in California.

 

[GiantBreadbug]

Maybe stand up to fuckin people like the assholes at Nestlé who think water isn't a human right and just like to take as much as they want out of the goddamn ground.

Of course they aren't the only problem but christ they sure aren't helping.

 

[Hale-XF11]

Classic GOP. No helpful solutions of their own. Ever.

 

[PdotMichael]

Yeah, they should do a trade. Public acknowledgement of anthropogenic climate change in exchange for a really big bucket.

You want such head lines?

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-takes-the-military-hostage-1445297057

 

[Robdraggoo]

Obama: free market will sort it out gop, right, right?!

 

[Netherscourge]

I thought the GoP wanted less federal involvement in state issues?

 

[Kelsdesu]

About what I expected from such a...plan from the GOP. I'm surprised they didn't throw in some climate change denying craziness.

They wanted to do away with some enviromental restoration. If memory serves.

 

[ivysaur12]

Up until Brown took office and we did away with the stupid redistricting that the GOP had in place wich gave them a majority in the state congress during and before the Terminator years the state was run by Republicans. They did squat as far as governing and ruined the state. We just now are getting shit back in shape here.

No. The last time any chamber in the California State Legislature had a majority was in 1996, when it controlled the House. It then went back to Democratic control in 1997. They also had a split House in 1995.

 

[Trojita]

It's better than letting all the riverside areas of the East side of the country flood and letting California, a major agricultural contributor to our food system, dry out. Inaction is not an option. Though you're not wrong that this would be heavily politicized.

We really aren't flooding all that much. I mean yeah we get the ocassional super storm, but it evens out.

 

[thefit]

Classic GOP. No helpful solutions of their own. Ever.

Any plab would require spening money and theu would most certainly be against it right from the start. GOP are nothing but red herring clowns.