News
Sports
Senator Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, made the following speech Wednesday during the first meeting of the Legislative Conference Committee on Water, in the California Legislature.
The committee is charged with creating a series of reforms that will lead to a reliable supply of water for all Californians.
“We're all in this together – of that there is no doubt. But Northern California, the Delta and Central and Southern California have very different needs, very different resources and very different problems. Some of these problems can be helped by government and some cannot.
"I am not going to forget for one minute that the area that I represent, where 80 percent of California's water supply comes from, has very different problems than the central and southern parts of the state.
"This conference committee, therefore, must address the needs and concerns of all stakeholders. That includes those rural areas that are not heavily represented on a population basis, but certainly play a role due to the concerns of area of origin and because of geography.
"Bottom line: The problems north of the Delta are much different than the problems south of the Delta.
"One of my misgivings – or disappointments – in the language that will be presented today is an abridgement of some of the needs in my area of origin. Some key language has been removed from the process over the course of the last 24 hours. I will not accept this.
"I'm not here to throw a monkey wrench into the equation, but I want to tell you that I'm not going to take off my regional hat. We all have regional hats. We all want to fix the Delta.
"And yet, it's not going to be at the expense of abrogating area-of-origin water rights from the north. It's not going to be at the expense of having faucets go dry in the south.
"So – there actually has to be co-equal results. And when we use the term co-equal, I am talking about all of the stakeholders involved.”
ooo
The committee is charged with creating a series of reforms that will lead to a reliable supply of water for all Californians.
“We're all in this together – of that there is no doubt. But Northern California, the Delta and Central and Southern California have very different needs, very different resources and very different problems. Some of these problems can be helped by government and some cannot.
"I am not going to forget for one minute that the area that I represent, where 80 percent of California's water supply comes from, has very different problems than the central and southern parts of the state.
"This conference committee, therefore, must address the needs and concerns of all stakeholders. That includes those rural areas that are not heavily represented on a population basis, but certainly play a role due to the concerns of area of origin and because of geography.
"Bottom line: The problems north of the Delta are much different than the problems south of the Delta.
"One of my misgivings – or disappointments – in the language that will be presented today is an abridgement of some of the needs in my area of origin. Some key language has been removed from the process over the course of the last 24 hours. I will not accept this.
"I'm not here to throw a monkey wrench into the equation, but I want to tell you that I'm not going to take off my regional hat. We all have regional hats. We all want to fix the Delta.
"And yet, it's not going to be at the expense of abrogating area-of-origin water rights from the north. It's not going to be at the expense of having faucets go dry in the south.
"So – there actually has to be co-equal results. And when we use the term co-equal, I am talking about all of the stakeholders involved.”
ooo
