Last month Representative Calvert (R-CA), Chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced H.R. 1985, the Western Water Enhancement Security Act.

Taxpayers for Common Sense believes federal taxpayers should assist California in finding water solutions, but California and the primary beneficiaries must take the lead in implementing and funding these solutions.

Instead, the “Western Water Enhancement Security Act” promises to initiate a new taxpayer-subsidized dam building era without the promise of water users paying for the projects.

The proponents have claimed this bill will cost $3 billion, but this appears to be pure fiction. In several places it contains ominous language like “and such sums as may be necessary.” This amounts to a multi-billion dollar blank check from federal taxpayers. For example, one part of the bill resuscitates the comatose Small Reclamation Project Act with a taxpayer-funded defibrillation of $1.3 billion per year.

Not only does this bill break the bank, it is also eliminates full Congressional oversight of projects and providing automatic authorization of new projects if committee majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate do not cry foul within 60 days.

If Californians want the rest of the country to help them with their future water issues, they owe it to their fellow taxpayers to find innovative solutions and pay their fair share. Instead of proceeding in that direction, this legislation seeks to force the federal taxpayer to pay for ancient storage projects that have been dismissed or ignored time and again. This bill is akin to speeding down the highway while looking in the rear view mirror.

Again, Taxpayers for Common Sense recognizes a federal role in California Water issues, but that role is not a bailout. Taxpayers cannot afford another Central Valley Project, where 60 years later, the taxpayer has been stuck with more than 85% of the cost.

Taxpayers for Common Sense is willing to work to find solutions, but H.R. 1985 is not the starting point.

Prepared Statement by Aileen Roder,
California Water Project Coordinator at Taxpayers for Common Sense
for Water and Power Subcommittee Hearings,
Modesto & San Jose, CA, June 30 / July 2, 2001