"This past Monday, Congressman Tom McClintock brought the Natural Resources Committee's Water and Power Subcommittee, which he chairs, to Fresno for a hearing titled "Creating Jobs by Overcoming Man-Made Drought: Time for Congress to Listen and Act."
The purpose of the Fresno hearing was to discuss relaxing or removing export pumping restrictions put in place to protect critically endangered species. However, the real issue is that some interests do not respect the legal structure that dictates water supply distribution. Water rights have evolved over more than 150 years in California, and what we are seeing is an attempt to "reshuffle" priority of water right holders.
Some argue that our water rights system is broken. But when we are in a drought - a water shortage by definition - and the folks with the most junior of rights go without water, the system is working as designed."
continued here: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact...IPd5dnufXOkJGsHrtOZnamKpEXmLSz6YjbvwTZO0e5g==
the bolding is mine.
The purpose of the Fresno hearing was to discuss relaxing or removing export pumping restrictions put in place to protect critically endangered species. However, the real issue is that some interests do not respect the legal structure that dictates water supply distribution. Water rights have evolved over more than 150 years in California, and what we are seeing is an attempt to "reshuffle" priority of water right holders.
Some argue that our water rights system is broken. But when we are in a drought - a water shortage by definition - and the folks with the most junior of rights go without water, the system is working as designed."
continued here: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact...IPd5dnufXOkJGsHrtOZnamKpEXmLSz6YjbvwTZO0e5g==
the bolding is mine.