Date: 2015-09-10
Speaker: LORETTA SANCHEZ (democrat)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. Mr. Speaker. as we come back from the August recess. I would like to speak on an issue that hits very close to home and to the Southwestern Statesyes. the Southwestern Statesand this is the drought. The drought in particular that is facing California is the worst one recorded in history in our State. and I believe it will define this era. My home State is entering its fourth year of consecutive drought. with nearly 93 percent of residents experiencing severe droughts. and there is no foreseeable end in the future. The lack of water in California is so serious that our Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency and asked that all residents cut back on water 25 percent. Even with us hitting that. a recent study estimates that it will take at least 11 million gallons of water to replenish our drought losses. Water conservation and infrastructure is a life or death issue. not just for the residents of my district. but for all of California. Without water infrastructure. farmers in the Central Valley cannot adequately grow and sell their crops. the price of foodstuff skyrockets. wildfires rage and destroy acres of property. State energy production is crippled. the economy slows. and the list goes on and on. While other areas of California are just now setting the initial framework for water conservation and recycling projects. my home district recycles almost 70 percent of the water that we use both in business and at home. How are we able to do that? Well. when I came here 19 years ago. I championed a project called the Groundwater Replenishment System. and it is located in Orange County. It is the water table underneath our homes. This system recycles treated waste water into clean drinking water. which exceeds Federal and State standards. and it has produced over 160 trillion gallons of new water and serviced millions of Orange County residents since its creation. This system has become the largest reclamation project in the world. In fact. people from around the world and from across our great States come to take a look at how we replenish our water supply. Legislation to fund projects like our groundwater replenishment systemwell. it should be commonsense to fund those. However. the drought has continued in the past 4 years. and there has been no meaningful action on infrastructure improvements to move water. to reclaim water. to save water. While residents of California are feeling the effects of our historic drought. this Chamber continues to stall on meaningful drought relief and water infrastructure legislation. Back in my home district. I have held numerous briefings about the drought and recognized community members who are cutting back and being more efficient with their water. I recently spent part of this August recess meeting with community members of the Central Valley to discuss water storage and recycling projects. In this Congress. I have cosponsored the Drought Recovery and Resilience Act of 2015. It is commonsense legislation which addresses innovative water financing. it improves water infrastructure and water management. and it assists in planning for future droughts. The residents of my State have been doing their part to conserve the water. so now. it is time for Washington. D.C.. to help us to do what is right for California and to do what is right for the other Southwestern States. While the House Republicans are bickering amongst themselves to avoid another embarrassing government shutdown. I will continue to fight for meaningful water infrastructure to secure the water independence of future generations because with water comes growth and California will grow.