I 
113TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1927 
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 
MAY 9, 2013 
Mr. COSTA 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 and Secu-
rity for Californians Act’’. 
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SEC. ll. 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 fertile agricultural regions in the world, 
and produces more than 250 different crops with an 
estimated value of $17,000,000,000 per year, sup-
plying about 8 percent of United States agricultural 
production and approximately 40 percent of the Na-
tion’s fruits and vegetables on less than 1 percent of 
United States farmland. Crops grown in the San 
Joaquin Valley are exported to 100 countries around 
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the world. The San Joaquin Valley is an essential 
source of 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 over 25 per-
cent. 
(C) Food banks throughout the San Joaquin 
Valley face unprecedented demand from unemployed 
residents. 
(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. 
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(7) Deliveries to water agencies that rely on ex-
ports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Cali-
fornia Bay-Delta) are expected to remain at reduced 
levels this year due to pumping restrictions imposed 
on operations of the Central Valley Project and the 
California State Water Project under the Endan-
gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.) 
in the early part of 2013. 
(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. 
(11) Large-scale and sustained habitat restora-
tion and fish passage improvements are essential— 
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(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 
the species and their critical habitat covered by the 
biological opinions for the operations of the Central 
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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 flow in 
Old and Middle Rivers to a 14-day average of 
the mean daily flow to achieve flow less negative 
than ¥5,000 cubic feet per second. 
(B) CONTROL OF PUMPING OPERATIONS.— 
For each calendar year, during the period be-
ginning on April 1 and ending on May 31, rates 
of pumping at the C.W. ‘‘Bill’’ Jones Pumping 
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Plant and Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant 
shall not be reduced pursuant to the biological 
opinion of the National Marine Fisheries Serv-
ice described in paragraph (1), except as re-
quired to implement California State Water Re-
sources Control Board Water Rights Decision 
1641 or a superseding water rights decision. 
(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— 
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(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-
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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 to the California State Water Project 
or any other legal user of water. 
(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 of the San Joaquin River Restoration 
Settlement Act (Public Law 111–11), including the Water 
Management Goal. 
(f) NO FURTHER RESTRICTION.—No State or any 
political subdivision thereof shall adopt or attempt to en-
force any requirements relating to the impact of the oper-
ation of the Projects on the species and critical habitat 
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covered by the biological opinions that is more restrictive 
than the requirements of this section. Any State law that 
authorizes 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 upon 
March 1, 2020. 
Æ 
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