I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1251 
To provide congressional direction for implementation of the Endangered 
Species Act as it relates to operation of the Central Valley Project 
and the California State Water Project and for water relief in the 
State of California. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 30, 2011 
Mr. COSTA (for himself and Mr. CARDOZA) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources 
A BILL 
To provide congressional direction for implementation of the 
Endangered Species Act as it relates to operation of 
the Central Valley Project and the California State 
Water Project and for water relief in the State of Cali-
fornia. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘More Water for Our 
Valley Act, 2011’’. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
SEC. 2. COMPLIANCE WITH ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT OF 
1973. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) The economy of the San Joaquin Valley in 
California is predominantly based on irrigated agri-
culture served water to the westside and southern 
end of the San Joaquin Valley by— 
(A) the Central Valley Project; and 
(B) the California State Water Project. 
(2) The quantity of water available for irrigated 
agriculture in these areas of the San Joaquin Valley 
served by the Central Valley Project and the Cali-
fornia State Water Project has been reduced signifi-
cantly as a result of restrictions placed on the oper-
ations of the Central Valley Project and the Cali-
fornia State Water Project under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
(3) California’s San Joaquin Valley is one of 
the most productive agricultural regions in the 
world, and produces more than 250 different crops 
with an estimated value of $17,000,000,000 per 
year, supplying about eight percent of United States 
agricultural production and approximately 40 per-
cent of the Nation’s fruits and vegetables on less 
than one percent of the United States farmland. 
Crops grown in the San Joaquin Valley are exported 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
to 100 countries around the world. The San Joaquin 
Valley is an essential source of the food supplies for 
the United States and the world. 
(4) Water supply shortages resulting from regu-
latory restrictions on the operations of the Central 
Valley Project and the California State Water 
Project have greatly exacerbated the economic reces-
sion and contributed to an economic crisis in the 
San Joaquin Valley. 
(5)(A) More than 400,000 acres of highly pro-
ductive farmland in the San Joaquin Valley were 
fallowed in 2009. 
(B) Unemployment rates in small rural commu-
nities in the San Joaquin Valley remain close to 40 
percent. 
(C) Food banks throughout the San Joaquin 
Valley face unprecedented demand from unemployed 
residents, with Fresno County Food Bank expecting 
to serve more meals in 2011 than in 2009. 
(6) Any water not captured and stored by the 
Central Valley Project and the California State 
Water Project is water that could have been used to 
sustain irrigated agriculture and the many busi-
nesses and communities that rely on it throughout 
the Central Valley of California. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
(7) As of March 1, 2011, snowpack and rainfall 
are above average for the State of California. How-
ever, deliveries to water agencies that rely on exports 
from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (California 
Bay-Delta) are expected to remain at reduced levels 
this year due to pumping restrictions imposed on op-
erations of the Central Valley Project and the Cali-
fornia State Water Project under the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 
(8) Due to reduced surface water supplies, reli-
ance on groundwater has increased, and the with-
drawals from the aquifers are unsustainable and put 
significant infrastructure at risk of collapse, includ-
ing the State Water Project’s California Aqueduct, 
due to permanent subsidence of land over the over-
drafted aquifers. 
(9) Significant habitat for a number of native 
fish species in the California Bay-Delta (including 
tidal marsh and wetlands), and access to spawning 
grounds, have been significantly reduced during the 
last century. 
(10) Discharge of pollutants and invasive spe-
cies have dramatically impaired the ecosystem of the 
California Bay-Delta. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
(11) Large-scale and sustained habitat restora-
tion and fish passage improvements are essential— 
(A) to restore the unique ecosystem of the 
California Bay-Delta; and 
(B) to recover native species in the Cali-
fornia Bay-Delta. 
(12) As of the date of enactment of this Act, 
Federal and State agencies, and a number of inter-
ested parties, continue to develop the Bay Delta 
Conservation Plan to establish a habitat conserva-
tion plan— 
(A) to provide ecosystem restoration; 
(B) to contribute to native species recov-
ery; and 
(C) to allow for projects to proceed that re-
store and protect water supplies for— 
(i) the Central Valley Project; and 
(ii) 
the 
California 
State 
Water 
Project. 
(b) COMPLIANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—All requirements of the En-
dangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et 
seq.) relating to operations of the Central Valley 
Project and the California State Water Project 
(‘‘Projects’’) shall be deemed satisfied with regard to 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
the species and their critical habitat covered by the 
biological opinions for the operations of the Central 
Valley Project and the California State Water 
Project issued by the United States Fish and Wild-
life Service and dated December 15, 2008, and the 
National Marine Fisheries Service and dated June 4, 
2009 (the ‘‘biological opinions’’), if— 
(A) the alternatives described in that por-
tion of the biological opinions entitled ‘‘Reason-
able and Prudent Alternatives’’ are imple-
mented; and 
(B) the actions described in paragraph (2) 
are carried out. 
(2) MANDATES.—The Secretary of the Interior 
and the Secretary of Commerce shall ensure the fol-
lowing: 
(A) FLOWS.—For each calendar year, dur-
ing the period beginning on December 1 and 
ending on June 30, neither biological opinion 
described in paragraph (1) shall restrict reverse 
flow in Old and Middle Rivers to a 14-day aver-
age of the mean daily reverse flow of less than 
¥5,000 cubic feet per second. 
(B) CONTROL OF PUMPING OPERATIONS.— 
For each calendar year, during the period be-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
ginning on April 1 and ending on May 31, rates 
of export shall not be reduced pursuant to the 
biological opinion of the National Marine Fish-
eries Service described in paragraph (1), except 
as required to implement California State 
Water Resources Control Board Water Rights 
Decision 1641 or a superseding water rights de-
cision. 
(C) FALL X2.—For each calendar year, 
during the period beginning September 1 and 
ending November 30, monthly average X2 no 
greater (more eastward) than 74 km (from the 
Golden Gate) shall be maintained only to the 
extent that such action does not diminish the 
capability of either the Central Valley Project 
or the California State Water Project to make 
water available for other authorized project pur-
poses. 
(3) MODIFICATION.—The Secretary of the Inte-
rior may modify the flow and pumping operation 
mandates established in paragraph (2) upon rec-
ommendations of the National Research Council 
Committee on Sustainable Water and Environmental 
Management in the California Bay-Delta, if such 
modifications— 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
(A) would provide greater benefits to the 
species covered by the biological opinions de-
scribed in paragraph (1); and 
(B) would not reduce the water delivery 
capability of the Central Valley Project or Cali-
fornia State Water Project more than their de-
livery capability allowed under paragraph (2). 
(c) IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLAN.—As soon as 
practicable after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce 
shall— 
(1) establish a fish hatchery program or refuge 
to preserve and restore the delta smelt in collabora-
tion with the Governor of the State of California; 
and 
(2) implement a habitat program under which 
each Secretary shall identify, prioritize, and imple-
ment key ecosystem restoration and fish passage 
projects in the ecosystem of, and on tributaries to, 
the California Bay-Delta to help ensure the viability 
of— 
(A) at-risk species; and 
(B) species listed as threatened species or 
endangered species on the list of threatened 
species or the list of endangered species pub-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
lished under section 4(c)(1) of the Endangered 
Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1533(c)(1)); 
and 
(3) install the Head of Old River Barrier dur-
ing the April–May pulse flow, as set forth in Cali-
fornia State Water Resources Control Board Water 
Rights Decision 1641. 
(d) SAVINGS
CLAUSE.—Nothing in this section 
shall— 
(1) diminish or result in a reduction of the 
water supply deliveries of the California State Water 
Project to its contractors; nor 
(2) shift an existing obligation of the Central 
Valley Project or other water project subject to the 
provisions of the biological opinions identified in sub-
section (b)(1) to any other person, agency, entity, or 
other water right holder. 
(e) SAN JOAQUIN RIVER RESTORATION SETTLE-
MENT ACT.—Nothing in this Act shall limit or otherwise 
affect the implementation of the San Joaquin River Res-
toration Settlement or the San Joaquin River Restoration 
Settlement Act (Public Law 111–11), including the Water 
Management Goal. 
(f) NO FUTHER RESTRICTION.—No State or any po-
litical subdivision thereof shall adopt or attempt to enforce 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
any requirements relating to the impact of the operation 
of the Projects on the species and critical habitat covered 
by the biological opinions that is more restrictive than the 
requirements of this section. Any State law that author-
izes the imposition of restrictions on the operation of the 
Projects in a manner that is more restrictive than this 
section is expressly preempted. 
(g) TERMINATION.—This section and each authority 
and mandate under this section shall terminate on March 
1, 2015. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
04:33 Mar 31, 2011
Jkt 099200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H1251.IH
H1251
tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS