Sec. 1002. Findings
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Congress finds as follows: As established in the Proclamation of a State of Emergency issued by the Governor of the State on January 17, 2014, the State is experiencing record dry conditions. Extremely dry conditions have persisted in the State since 2012, and the drought conditions are likely to persist into the future. The water supplies of the State are at record-low levels, as indicated by the fact that all major Central Valley Project reservoir levels were at 20–35 percent of capacity as of September 25, 2014.
The lack of precipitation has been a significant contributing factor to the 6,091 fires experienced in the State as of September 15, 2014, and which covered nearly 400,000 acres. According to a study released by the University of California, Davis in July 2014, the drought has led to the fallowing of 428,000 acres of farmland, loss of $810 million in crop revenue, loss of $203 million in dairy and other livestock value, and increased groundwater pumping costs by $454 million.
The statewide economic costs are estimated to be $2.2 billion, with over 17,000 seasonal and part-time agricultural jobs lost. CVPIA Level II water deliveries to refuges have also been reduced by 25 percent in the north of Delta region, and by 35 percent in the south of Delta region. Only one-sixth of the usual acres of rice fields are being flooded this fall, which leads to a significant decline in habitat for migratory birds and an increased risk of disease at the remaining wetlands due to overcrowding of such birds.
The drought of 2013 through 2014 constitutes a serious emergency that poses immediate and severe risks to human life and safety and to the environment throughout the State. The serious emergency described in paragraph
(4)requires— immediate and credible action that respects the complexity of the water system of the State and the importance of the water system to the entire State; and policies that do not pit stakeholders against one another, which history shows only leads to costly litigation that benefits no one and prevents any real solutions. Data on the difference between water demand and reliable water supplies for various regions of California south of the Delta, including the San Joaquin Valley, indicate there is a significant annual gap between reliable water supplies to meet agricultural, municipal and industrial, groundwater, and refuges water needs within the Delta Division, San Luis Unit and Friant Division of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the demands of those areas. This gap varies depending on the methodology of the analysis performed, but can be represented in the following ways: For Central Valley Project South-of-Delta water service contractors, if it is assumed that a water supply deficit is the difference in the amount of water available for allocation versus the maximum contract quantity, then the water supply deficits that have developed from 1992 to 2014 as a result of legislative and regulatory changes besides natural variations in hydrology during this timeframe range between 720,000 and 1,100,000 acre-feet. For Central Valley Project and State Water Project water service contractors south of the Delta and north of the Tehachapi mountain range, if it is assumed that a water supply deficit is the difference between reliable water supplies, including maximum water contract deliveries, safe yield of groundwater, safe yield of local and surface supplies and long-term contracted water transfers, and water demands, including water demands from agriculture, municipal and industrial and refuge contractors, then the water supply deficit ranges between approximately 2,500,000 to 2,700,000 acre-feet. Data of pumping activities at the Central Valley Project and State Water Project delta pumps identifies that, on average from Water Year 2009 to Water Year 2014, take of Delta smelt is 80 percent less than allowable take levels under the biological opinion issued December 15, 2008. Data of field sampling activities of the Interagency Ecological Program located in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Estuary identifies that, on average from 2005 to 2013, the program takes 3,500 delta smelt during annual surveys with an authorized take level of 33,480 delta smelt annually—according to the biological opinion issued December 9, 1997. In 2015, better information exists than was known in 2008 concerning conditions and operations that may or may not lead to high salvage events that jeopardize the fish populations, and what alternative management actions can be taken to avoid jeopardy. Alternative management strategies, removing non-native species, enhancing habitat, monitoring fish movement and location in real-time, and improving water quality in the Delta can contribute significantly to protecting and recovering these endangered fish species, and at potentially lower costs to water supplies. Resolution of fundamental policy questions concerning the extent to which application of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 affects the operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project is the responsibility of Congress.