[Rep. Knight] – U.S. Rep. Steve Knight is an original cosponsor of a bill that would set up a framework to provide relief from California’s drought crisis.
H.R. 2898, the Western Water and American Food Security Act of 2015 (FULL TEXT) was introduced on Thursday by Rep. David Valadao (CA-21). The bill would work within state environmental laws to maximize the amount of water available to Californians by setting up a process for increased pumping, capture, and storage.
“The drought in our state is quickly becoming a national emergency,” said Knight, R-Palmdale. “Without Congressional action, Californians will suffer immensely and so will everyone who relies on our agriculture.”
Californians have struggled under drought conditions for over a year, but proposed legislative fixes are prohibitively expensive or politically unworkable. Knight and his colleagues believe that The Western Water Act will be neither of these things. Instead it includes provisions that work within California’s complex environmental laws while modernizing them to drive down costs and increase the flow of water out of the Delta in a sustainable manner.
“The Western Water Act was designed to address the underlying causes of the drought in a pragmatic and bipartisan manner.” continued Knight. “There is no simple answer to this problem. But California needs rational solutions, not more water rations.”
H.R. 2898 will be considered in House Natural Resources Committee in early July.
Knight represents the Santa Clarita Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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So, what exactly does this bill do to increase the amount of water that is available to all Californians? Reservoirs throughout central California and southern California are either dry or at historic lows. The only thing that will relieve this condition is a minimum of three years of normal rain and snowfall.
If our new Assemblyman can arrange that he will be a hero and have a great chance at higher office. Of course, some people might wonder just how he arranged that…