For Immediate Release                                             Contact: Amanda Molk, 202-225-5256

July 9, 2004

House Passes CALFED Legislation

Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano led Democratic support on the House floor for H.R. 2828, the Water Supply, Reliability, and Environmental Improvement Act, which passed the House by voice vote.  “The current extreme drought throughout the Western United States makes the passage of this CALFED reauthorization bill critically important and timely.  HR 2828 addresses the severe drought situation by including strong water use efficiency language that would enable Southern California to take less water from the Colorado River and the fragile Bay-Delta ecosystem through recycling and restoring our groundwater supply,” Napolitano commented.

“The current drought has already drained Colorado River’s Lake Powell to 43% of capacity, reducing water pressuring entering Glen Canyon Dam’s turbines and generated electricity by 30%.  Federal hydrologists estimate that there is a 20% chance that drought could eliminate hydropower generated from Lake Powell within five years,” the Congresswoman explained.

Discussing the bill’s particular impact on California, Napolitano remarked, “California has also been operating under the most restrictive allocation of Colorado River water in history.  We have been rightfully told by the Interior Department that we need to reduce our take from the River by 800,000 feet by 2016.  Language in this bill will help us meet that goal by making water recycling, desalination and groundwater cleanup programs eligible for 25% federal matching funds under the CALFED program.”

“I sincerely appreciate my partnership with Chairmen Pombo and Calvert and the progress we have made on this legislation since its introduction last fall.  However, I must reiterate my concerns about language in the bill that could damage the federal and state government partnership of CALFED by allowing Congress to re-write the way that federal agencies execute projects in the CALFED ROD, CALFED’s guiding implementation document, thereby encouraging the California State Legislature to change how state agencies implement projects in the ROD,” noted the Congresswoman.

“I look forward to continuing to work with Chairmen Pombo and Calvert to resolve remaining issues as this critical legislation moves to conference,” Napolitano concluded.

Representative Grace F. Napolitano, 38th District of California
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