Distorted Water

Clarifying facts to combat the twisted views of radical environmentalists...

A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.

www.nunes.house.gov

Central Valley Project
The federal Central Valley Project (CVP) delivers water
from reservoirs in the wet northern parts of the state to
the arid southern parts of the state. Twenty dams and
reservoirs, eleven hydroelectric power plants, and 500
miles of canals and aqueducts make up the infrastructure
of the project.
State Water Project
The California State Water Project, commonly known as
the SWP, is one of the world’s largest publicly built and
operated water and power conveyance system. There are
701 miles of canals and pipelines, five hydroelectric facili-
ties and 34 dams and reservoirs.
A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.
Dear Friends,
D uring the debate in Congress concerning Cali-
fornia’s government-imposed drought, I have
heard a host of excuses as to why San Joaquin Valley
residents should not be given immediate help. Many
of the most troubling statements about our region
have been posted on my YouTube Channel or are dis-
cussed in my blog. However, I prepared this docu-
ment because it is important for us to understand the
distortions used against us and to respond to them
with facts.
Sincerely,
Devin Nunes
Member of Congress
Map of California
water infrastructure
Water Terminology
Acre Foot The Delta
The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is an expansive
It is defined by the volume of one acre of inland river delta and estuary in northern California. It is
formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the
surface area to a depth of one foot. This is confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and
lies just east of where the rivers enter the upper arm of San
approximately 325,851 U.S. gallons. As a rule Francisco Bay.
of thumb in U.S. water management, one acre- Delta Pumps
foot is the planned water usage of a suburban Located near the City of Tracy in the southern end of the
Delta: The Jones Pumping Plant is owned by the federal
family household annually. government and the Banks Pumping Plant is owned by the
state of California.
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 Distorted
Water
DISTORTION: Agriculture uses 80% of California’s water.
FACT: Quite the reverse is true – 76% of Delta water is used by
the environment.
In an average year, the entire state of California receives about 200
million acre feet of water through precipitation. More than 50%
evaporates into the atmosphere, percolates into the soil, or is used
by native vegetation.
The remaining water, approximately 82 million acre feet, flows
into rivers. Of this amount, California dedicates 48% to the en-
vironment – the single largest use of water in California. The re-
maining water is used by agriculture (41%) and cities (11%).
It is important to note that of the water that actually reaches the
Delta, 76% is flushed to the ocean for environmental reasons.
Bay Area water users, combined with users in Central and South-
ern California, consume 18% of Delta water. Delta cities and farm-
ers use the remaining 6%.
A depiction of Delta water use.
DISTORTION: The Westside received 80% of the water it
needed in 2009. They were even hoarding water from 2008.
FACT: Federal water deliveries were 10% for 2009
There is no “hoarded” water being held by any San Joaquin
Valley agency. In 2009, Westlands Water District had hopes
that their claim for 270,000 acre feet of water would be hon-
ored. However, this water was not guaranteed to be delivered.
Westside farmers have had to make up for lost surface water deliv-
A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.
www.nunes.house.gov
eries by pumping groundwater or negotiating transfers. Ground-
water pumping and transfers were used to offset Delta water losses
for 2009. However, groundwater is an exhaustible resource and
transfers are not reliable - both are temporary stopgaps. In addi-
tion, groundwater in the San Joaquin Valley is of a much lower
quality. Not all crops can be irrigated with groundwater. Despite
the best efforts of local farmers and governments to mitigate for
lost water, shortages resulted in 500,000 acres of farmland being
fallowed. This represents a land mass the size of Rhode Island.
Summer 2005 Summer 2009
An area the size of Rhode Island has been transformed into desert due
to the government-imposed drought.
DISTORTION: The pumps are on.
FACT: The pumps are turned off from December through July
and do not operate at full capacity the rest of the year thanks to
government decisions.
The state and federal water projects were built for year-round op-
eration. Since two-thirds of California’s water is located in the
north and two-thirds of the population is in the south, it is essential
that water deliveries continue year-round.
The entire system of dams and canals composing the state and
federal water projects were specifically built for the purpose of
balancing wet and dry years.
The San Luis Reservoir, just south of the Delta, is a key compo-
nent of California’s water conveyance infrastructure – holding just
over two million acre feet of water. It has no natural streams and
is filled by Delta pumping during the fall and winter. It is important
to note that water stored at the San Luis Reservoir is used to supply
the San Joaquin Valley, as well as Southern California – particu-
larly during periods of significant drought when pumping may be
reduced.
In summary, farmers do not make planting decisions in July when
they may get water. They make them in the early winter. Farmers
have to decide what they are going to plant based on the expected
1
 water deliveries for the next year. The farmers then go to their
bankers with that information to secure loans to purchase seed,
fertilizer, etc. The farmers plant in the early spring and need the
water at that time. If you do not have water in the spring, you can’t
plant. Therefore, water deliveries in July are not enough to save
rural communities – there isn’t anything to water because the crops
were never planted.
Environmental activists cannot dispute that the Delta pumps were
shut off between December and July and will be again every year
for the foreseeable future unless Congress acts.
DISTORTION: The pumps are the reason the Delta smelt,
salmon, and other species are in decline.
FACT: This statement is disputed. Approximately 76% of the
water that transits the Delta flows into the ocean.
Do environmentalists really expect us to believe that increasing
flows will restore these species? Even NOAA, the federal agency
who authored the infamous “killer whale” biological opinion, ad-
mitted during Congressional testimony that salmon and other spe-
cies are impacted more profoundly by ocean conditions.
When the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) was
enacted in 1992, environmental flows were increased by 1.2 mil-
lion acre feet. Since then, biological decisions on the Delta have
raised this number to 3.4 million. Meanwhile, none of the threat-
ened or endangered species have recovered. In fact, since CVPIA
became law more species have been listed not less. Common sense
demands we try something new.
This graph depicts Delta pumping, outflow and fishery conditions. It
shows no correlation between pumping and fish populations.
DISTORTION: A drought is to blame for water shortages, not
the Enangered Species Act.
A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.
2 www.nunes.house.gov
FACT: While the past few years have been declared “droughts”,
Northern Sierra precipitation for 2009 was 93% of average accord-
ing to the State of California. This is where Delta water originates
– the water that serves San Joaquin Valley residents, as well as
Californians further south.
Water shortages in central and southern California are not uncom-
mon – both regions are historically dry and can be desert-like.
However, the construction of our state and federal water projects
allowed reliable water deliveries despite unfavorable natural con-
ditions. This has been true even during catastrophic droughts of
our recent past.
The California Department of Water Resources produced this graph
of Northern Sierra precipitation. The blue line represents cumulative
monthly precipitation during a wet year (1982), the red and brown
lines represent major droughts (1976 and 1923) and the black dotted
line represents average rainfall. This year, the green line, was only
slightly below average.
Today, we are experiencing a drought that is mild in comparison to
many we have already survived. Overall, California’s state-wide
precipitation for 2009 was 81% of normal. By comparison, dur-
ing 1977’s drought - the driest year in state history - it was 45%
of normal and in the 1991 drought - the fifth year of a protracted
drought - it was 76%. Indeed, during late-season rain events this
year a number of reservoirs associated with the state and federal
water projects were forced to spill water as they reached capacity.
Massive water flows passed through the Delta but could not be
stored in the San Luis Reservoir because the pumps were off.
While new storage and conveyance systems are needed to meet
growing needs and to improve reliability of the system, the current
crisis is directly related to government decisions to withhold water
(pumping restrictions).
The bottom line: The Delta pumps must operate year-long if the
state and federal water projects are to serve the people of Central
and Southern California.
DISTORTION: Water has been over-promised to farmers.
FACT: This statement is false.
In order to come to the conclusion that water is over-promised,
you have to first accept the false notion that water is only used
once. Water is used, processed and reused many times as it travels
through the state’s water conveyance system. The only water that
is not recycled in California is the water that is flushed into the
ocean for environmental purposes.
San Luis Resevior reached its lowest recorded level in 2009 due to
Delta pumping restrictions.
DISTORTION: Fishermen are out of work because of Delta
pumping. More than 23,000 jobs and $1.4 billion has been lost
to the economy of California due to termination of commercial
and recreational salmon fishing.
FACT: According to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman,
there are approximately 3,000 fishermen in California and Oregon.
There is no reliable data that suggests these individuals are all un-
employed nor is there reliable data that suggests as many as 23,000
workers have lost their jobs.
With the American people not buying the policy of protecting fish
at the expense of families, liberals are now touting a new argu-
ment. Congress can’t restore the flow of water because it would
hurt fishermen. This simply isn’t true.
Furthermore, despite limited evidence of “devastation” more than
$200 million has been spent by taxpayers to bail out fishermen
over the past two years - more money per recipient than Hurricane
Katrina survivors.
Indeed, thanks to an earmark by liberal leaders in Congress, each
of 1,722 permit holding salmon fishermen received generous pay-
ments from the federal government in 2008 - $170 million worth.
More than a thousand businesses also received payments. This
A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.
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large sum was provided despite the fact that the total economic
impact of the closed salmon run was estimated at $82 million
(according to the Congressional Research Service, the economic
impact was actually $57.9 million, but we will accept the higher
number for the sake of argument).
Salmon Disaster
Payments
3 payments of $500,000
213 payments over $100,000
Total payments for 2007-2009
$230 million
A unique form of disaster relief, the salmon fishermen bailout
money replaced 100% of fishing income based on the their “best
recent year,” resulting in six figure payouts for many. This unprec-
edented bailout came on top of a $60 million salmon industry bail-
out in 2007.
While I believe there are serious problems with the fisheries off the
coast of California, I reject the claims of radical environmental-
ists and their proxies in the fishing industry. Delta pumping is not
responsible for the fishery collapse (see chart on opposite page).
And while there are likely commercial and recreation fishermen
who have suffered as a result of these problems, the magnitude
both in economic terms and human cost does not begin to compare
with the suffering in the San Joaquin Valley – where nearly 40,000
people are out of work, and 500,000 thousand acres of farmland
have become desert.
A final point, the unemployment on the North Coast of California,
the supposed area of great economic distress due to fishery col-
lapse, is below the state average.
DISTORTION: Republicans are also to blame – they sup-
ported/signed laws that hurt the valley.
FACT: There are several compelling facts that prove the origin
of our crisis to be Democratic lawmakers (see Water Crisis Time-
line on next page).
The first major blow against San Joaquin Valley farming occurred
in 1992 with the passage of the Central Valley Project Improve-
ment Act. The bill was authored by Democrat Congressman
George Miller, who was Chairman of the Resources Committee
at the time, and folded into a larger piece of legislation – where it
passed with veto proof majorities in the House and Senate. At the
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 Water Crisis Timeline
Democratic lawmakers and environmenalists - a history of taking water from the San Joaquin Valley.

June 4, 2009
Obama Ruling:
The National Marine
Fisheries Service ruled

May 20, 2005

Central Valley Project
that Delta pumping was
is born:

A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.

killing salmon, steelhead,
With the Rivers and NRDC sues the sturgeon and killer
Harbors Act of 1935, federal govern- whales.

August 31, 2007

the federal government ment over the
assumed control of the Delta smelt. Smelt ruling:
Central Valley Project U.S. District Court Judge Oliver
February 3, 1973
and its initial features ESA becomes law: Wanger orders Delta Smelt pro-
were authorized for Large Democratic tected by imposing limits on water
August 11, 1935

construction by the majorities in the flows caused by pumps at San

U.S. Army Corps of House and Senate Joaquin-Sacramento River delta
Engineers. help speed passage from December to June.

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of the Endangered
Funds for construction Friant Dam construc- Species Act, authored
of the initial features tion begins: by Rep. John Dingle
of the Central Valley Turn on the Pumps
October 1939

Griffith Company and (D-MI).

Project were provided Act Defeated:

July 23, 2009

Bent Company of Los NRDC leads San Joaquin
by the Emergency Relief Angeles were awarded River Lawsuit: Congressman Nunes’
Appropriation Act of the Friant Dam construc- Fifteen environmental HR 3105, the Turn on
February 21, 1944

1935 (49 Stat. 115). The tion contract on a low groups sued the federal the Pumps Act, would
project was authorized bid of a little more than government in 1988, argu- have returned Delta
by a finding of feasibility Friant Dam begins The Modern Envi- pumps to normal op-
$8.7 million. Under ing contract renewals
operations: ronmental Movement

1988
September 1962
by the Secretary of the contract terms, the firms should be subject to erations. Democrats
Interior and approved Millerton lake can is born: Rachel killed consideration
had 1,200 days from environmental review
by the President on reach 520,000 acre Carson publishes of the measure (Roll
October 1939 to finish under provisions of the
December 2, 1935, feet at maximum Silent Prairie and Call 616).
the job. National Environmental
for construction by capacity. successfully leads the
effort to ban DDT - a Policy Act (NEPA) and
Reclamation. the Endangered Species
chemical instrumental
in the eradication Act (ESA).
of malaria in the
developed world.
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
The case against Friant is born:
California Fish and Game
code 5937 is updated. The law
mandates the owner of any dam
shall allow sufficient water at all
1937

times to pass through a fishway,

or in the absence of a fishway,

September 13, 2006

allow sufficient water to pass over,

October 1937
around or through the dam, to keep Test Flows Begin:
Dry dirt and tumbleweeds: As the westside of the San

March 25, 2009

in good condition any fish that may Construction begins: Friant surrenders: Congress enacts the San
be planted or exist below the dam. Joaquin Valley is transformed
Construction of the initial units CVPIA becomes law: The San Joaquin River Joaquin River Settlement as into desert due to Delta

October 1, 2009
of the Central Valley Project Large Democratic Settlement Agreement part of a larger omnibus pub- pumping restrictions, the
NEPA created: is signed.

October 1992
begin in October 1937. majorities in Congress lic lands bill. The legislation

January 1, 1970
eastside of the valley begins

March 5, 1993
Large Democratic speed passage of mandates a salmon-run on the
Minnows get protection: to spill water from Friant dam
majorities in the House the Central Valley river and leaves open-ended
The Delta smelt is listed to restore a long-gone fishery
and Senate help speed Project Improvement future water diversions from
under the Endangered Spe- on the San Joaquin River. The
passage of the National Act, sponsored by the region’s already dry
cies Act as “threatened.” river restoration sets the stage
Environmental Policy Rep. George Miller communities. for massive water diversions
Act (NEPA) - leading to (D-CA). The bill that ultimately will mirror
the establishment –of the dedicated 800,000 those of the westside.
Environmental Protection acre feet of water to
Agency. the environment.

4
time, Democrats controlled 270 House seats and 57 Senate seats.
CVPIA diverted more than a million acre feet of water away from
communities south of the Delta.
In addition, Congressman George Miller has admitted to a cen-
tral role in a host of lawsuits that have devastated the San Joaquin
Valley. These lawsuits lead to biological opinions that are seri-
ously flawed - denying entire regions of California access to wa-
ter. Democrats were also instrumental in the passage of the San
Joaquin River Settlement earlier this year, which in time will dry
up communities on the east side of the valley.
DISTORTION: Farm jobs have increased during the past
year.
FACT: According to a May 2009 study conducted by the Univer-
sity of California, Davis, 35,285 jobs and $1.6 billion in economic
revenue have been lost as a result of the man-made drought.
Far more jobs and economic activity are at risk. The overall unem-
ployment rate in the San Joaquin Valley (15%) is far higher than
the rest of California (12%). The unemployment in water deprived
communities is still higher (36%). Farmers, local governments,
small businesses and unemployed workers all cite water shortages
as the predominate factor. In sharp contrast, each of the North
State counties claiming catastrophic unemployment due to closed
fisheries are experiencing unemployment rates below the state av-
erage (Mendocino 10.1%, Humboldt 10.3%, Sonoma 9.9%, Del
Norte 11.9%, Marin 8%).
Food line in Mendota California.
DISTORTION: Radicals are not in control of the
environmental movement. They are the exception.
FACT: Radicals have taken control of the environmental move-
ment – including organizations that are viewed as “mainstream”
by the public.
Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace and environ-
mental activist, recently said that many environmental leaders
“have abandoned science and are following agendas that have little
A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.
www.nunes.house.gov
to do with saving the Earth.” Moore continues to explain that radi-
cal activists have anti-human agendas.
There are countless examples of radicalism run amok in the envi-
ronmental community. While most of these groups push their anti-
human policies through Congress and the courts, some are more
direct. For example, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth
Liberation Front (ELF) are identified by the FBI as terrorist orga-
nizations. In 2001, ELF was named one of our nation’s most active
extremist groups and a top terrorist threat. Despite their notoriety
among our nation’s top law enforcement agencies, these organiza-
tions are virtually invisible in America. So too is their association
with organizations like Greenpeace, which has helped finance acts
of eco-terrorism according to federal prosecutors.
Acts of terrorism are not the only indicator of extremism among
environmental groups today. The modern environmental move-
ment is a threat to public health and safety in other ways. For ex-
ample, radicals are working to ban the chlorination of water. This
backwards policy is being advocated despite the fact that it would
result in epidemics of cholera and other deadly diseases around
the world.
Environmentalists also persist in opposing the use of the lifesaving
chemical DDT. This chemical was used to protect the American
people from malaria until the 1960s but was banned following a
public campaign led by activist Rachel Carson. She has since been
recognized as the founder of the modern environmental move-
ment.
Despite the fact that the World Health Organization (WHO) has re-
jected the scientific basis for banning DDT, environmentalists like
Al Gore cling to the ban for political rather than scientific reasons.
Meanwhile, malaria is an epidemic and global health threat. There
are 500 million cases of the preventable disease every year.
5
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Visalia, CA 93291 Washington, DC 20515 Clovis, CA 93612
559-733-3861 202-225-2523 559-323-5235

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A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes.

www.nunes.house.gov