Legislation: Battle opens over law that pits farmers against environmentalists
Sen. Dianne Feinstein is joining forces with House Republicans to try to extend a controversial law that provides more water for Central Valley farms, but with a sweetener for the environment: Help with protecting California’s rivers and fish.
The proposed extension of the WIIN Act, or Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, would keep millions of federal dollars flowing for new dams and reservoirs across the West. It would also continue to allow more water to be moved from Northern California to the drier south.
In addition, the proposal builds on the original 2016 law, which conservation groups have criticized as a water grab for agriculture, by offering
federal help with funding for the restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The delta is the linchpin of California’s water supply and a vital conduit for salmon.
The effort to renew the WIIN Act comes as California water regulators are pushing an ambitious plan to improve the health of the delta and bolster its wildlife. The WIIN Act’s promised restoration funds, according to reports from Congress, are intended to broaden support for the state effort, which has been hung up on questions of who should make the concessions needed to fix the estuary.
On Wednesday, the State Water Resources Control Board is scheduled to take up its Bay Delta Plan. The proposal calls for enhancing conditions in the delta by boosting inflows by forcing cities and farms to draw less water from four rivers that feed the estuary. The city of San Francisco, which gets water from the Tuolumne River, is among those facing cutbacks.
Gov. Jerry Brown recently threw his support behind the extension of the WIIN Act, hoping the new restoration funds would facilitate upgrades to the delta and reduce the need for water cuts. The governor has been urging water users and water regulators to negotiate a Bay Delta Plan that has favorable terms for all.
Many environmentalists, fishermen and California Democrats, however, contend that the WIIN Act remains wrongheaded and has no place in the delta’s restoration, insisting it does more harm than good. The law’s goal of freeing up more water for human consumption leaves less water for fish and other wildlife that have been in decline in the state’s river system.
“This would crank up the pumping, and the more those pumps move water, the more salmon die,” said John McManus, executive director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, who believes the WIIN Act is an underhanded way to prioritize farms over fish.
Feinstein, D-Calif., and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, are seeking to extend the five-year law for an additional seven years through a rider in the federal budget deal. The federal spending package is currently tied up with such competing proposals as President Trump’s border wall, but it’s expected to be finalized by Dec. 21, when funding for the government is set to expire.
“California can’t wait until the next major drought to fix our aging water infrastructure, and improving and extending the WIIN Act is an important step,” Feinstein said in an email.
As proposed, the WIIN Act would provide $670 million for new water-storage projects, including the possible expansion of Shasta Dam and other reservoir work that has faced long odds not only because of the high cost but the environmental footprint. Another $100 million would go to waterrecycling programs. Another $60 million would go to desalination plants.
The updated law would also grant state and federal water regulators the continued flexibility to pump additional water through the delta to farms in the San Joaquin Valley and cities in Southern California.
Furthermore, the proposal would give the Interior Department new authority to impose fees on communities and irrigation districts that use federal water and direct the proceeds to improving habitat along California’s rivers.
The Brown administration has been skeptical of new dams and additional pumping, but maintains that funding for river restoration makes the WIIN Act worthwhile.
Critics have seized on language in the WIIN Act that allows delta pumping to go beyond what’s permitted under the biological opinions of the Endangered Species Act. The legislation also directs maximum pumping unless water regulators can prove their actions are harming fish.
Additionally, critics note that the WIIN Act was meant to be an emergency measure to boost water supplies during the California drought, not long-term policy. They’ve also denounced the brokering of the renewal during closed-door budget negotiations.
Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., has come out against the extension because of concern that the law doesn’t balance water supplies fairly.
“We must invest in sustainable water projects that protect critical ecosystems while also supporting our important agricultural economies across the state,” she wrote on Twitter. “Extending the controversial and detrimental policies of the WIIN Act is not the way to do this.”