THE DAILY WHIP: THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2015

H.R. 2898 – Western Water and American Food Security Act (Rep. Valadao – Natural Resources/Agriculture)(One hour of debate).  The bill modifies the current water allocation practices intended to increase the availability of water to farmers and communities in California’s drought-stricken Central Valley.

While the bill allocates water for agricultural purposes, it changes protections in the Endangered Species Act that currently protect non-endangered species.  H.R. 2898 calls for the redistribution of limited water supplies to large industrial farming operations in Central and Southern California, which could impact the West Coast salmon fishery. 

H.R. 2898 would make changes to the Water Supply Permitting Act by creating a permitting office run by the Bureau of Reclamation to streamline the process for the construction of expanded surface water storage, while weakening the environmental review process. Under current law, the environmental impacts of projects funded with federal dollars must be fully analyzed, including requiring that other financial and environmentally feasible alternatives are reviewed. 

Lastly, H.R. 2898 would supersede state law by elevating the water rights for certain agricultural contactors over existing water rights that benefit refuges and wildlife areas. 

The Rule, which was adopted yesterday, provides for one hour of debate and makes in order 8 amendments, each debatable for 10 minutes, equally divided between the offeror and an opponent.  The amendments are:

McClintock Manager’s Amendment.  Makes one technical change and one clarifying change to the bill.
McNerney/DeSaulnier/Garamendi/Costa Amendment.  Adds water hyacinths to the list of invasive species to be considered for the pilot project established under the legislation.
Garamendi Amendment.  Directs the Secretary of the Interior to collaborate with the California Department of Water Resources to install a fish screen at the Delta Cross Channel Gates.
LaMalfa Amendment.  Modifies the water storage feasibility study requirements in the underlying bill to align with a recently-signed memorandum of understanding between the water project operators and the Bureau of Reclamation.
Calvert/LaMalfa/Denham/Valadao Amendment.  Modifies the representation on the Restoration Fund Advisory Board created in the underlying bill by adding a seat for a member representing a wildlife entity that primarily focuses on waterfowl.
Costa Amendment.  Requires the Secretary of the Interior to publish an annual report detailing the water released from the Central Valley Project to manage instream flows, the purpose of those water releases, and any measured environmental benefits that result from them.
LaMalfa/Walden Amendment.  Makes contractual water users that receive water from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project equivalent to federal agencies with respect to Endangered Species Act (ESA) consultations.
Grijalva Amendment.  Funds water reclamation programs and water reuse projects so that the Bureau of Reclamation may investigate more opportunities to reclaim and reuse wastewater and naturally impaired ground and surface water in the 17 Western states and Hawaii.

Bill Text for H.R. 2898:
PDF Version
Background for H.R. 2898:
House Report (HTML Version)
CRS Report: Drought Legislation: H.R. 2898