A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes. www.nunes.house.gov

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

Distorted Water

Devin NunesMember of Congress

Sincerely,

Water Terminology

Dear Friends,

uring the debate in Congress concerning Cali- fornia’s government-imposed drought, I haveheard a host of excuses as to why San Joaquin Valleyresidents should not be given immediate help. Manyof the most troubling statements about our regionhave 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 thedistortions used against us and to respond to themwith facts.

Central Valley ProjeCt

The federal Central Valley Project (CVP) delivers water from reservoirs in the wet northern parts of the state tothe arid southern parts of the state. Twenty dams andreservoirs, eleven hydroelectric power plants, and 500miles of canals and aqueducts make up the infrastructureof the project.

State Water ProjeCt

The California State Water Project, commonly known asthe SWP, is one of the world’s largest publicly built andoperated water and power conveyance system. There are

701 miles of canals and pipelines, ve hydroelectric facili

-ties and 34 dams and reservoirs.

A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes. www.nunes.house.gov

aCre Foot

It is dened by the volume of one acre of

surface area to a depth of one foot. This isapproximately 325,851 U.S. gallons. As a ruleof thumb in U.S. water management, one acre-foot is the planned water usage of a suburbanfamily household annually.

the Delta

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is an expansiveinland river delta and estuary in northern California. It isformed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the

conuence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and

lies just east of where the rivers enter the upper arm of SanFrancisco Bay.

Delta PumPS

Located near the City of Tracy in the southern end of theDelta: The Jones Pumping Plant is owned by the federalgovernment and the Banks Pumping Plant is owned by thestate of California.

alifornia

water

infrastruCture

A publication by Congressman Devin Nunes. www.nunes.house.gov

FaCt

Quite the reverse is true – 76% of Delta water is used bythe environment.In an average year, the entire state of California receives about 200million 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, ows

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

f  w  c cs 

Delta, 76% is ushed 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%.

FaCt

Federal water deliveries were 10% for 2009

There is no “hoarded” water being held by any San JoaquinValley agency. In 2009, Westlands Water District had hopesthat 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-eries by pumping groundwater or negotiating transfers. Ground-water pumping and transfers were used to offset Delta water lossesfor 2009. However, groundwater is an exhaustible resource andtransfers 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. Despitethe best efforts of local farmers and governments to mitigate for lost water, shortages resulted in 500,000 acres of farmland beingfallowed. This represents a land mass the size of Rhode Island.

FaCt

The pumps are turned off from December through Julyand do not operate at full capacity the rest of the year thanks togovernment decisions.The state and federal water projects were built for year-round op-eration. Since two-thirds of California’s water is located in thenorth and two-thirds of the population is in the south, it is essentialthat water deliveries continue year-round.The entire system of dams and canals composing the state and

federal water projects were specically 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 justover two million acre feet of water. It has no natural streams and

is lled by Delta pumping during the fall and winter. It is important

to note that water stored at the San Luis Reservoir is used to supplythe San Joaquin Valley, as well as Southern California – particu-

larly during periods of signicant drought when pumping may be

reduced.In summary, farmers do not make planting decisions in July whenthey may get water. They make them in the early winter. Farmershave to decide what they are going to plant based on the expected

A depiction of Delta water use. An area the size of Rhode Island has been transformed into desert dueto the government-imposed drought.

DistortedWater

DIStortIon:

The pumps are on.

DIStortIon:

The Westside received 80% of the water itneeded in 2009. They were even hoarding water from 2008.

DIStortIon: