ACWA Members Testify at Water Storage Hearing

The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing Tuesday, Feb. 7, on “Water for Our Future and Job Creation: Examining Regulatory and Bureaucratic Barriers to New Surface Storage Infrastructure.” 

ACWA members Thad Bettner, General Manager, Glen Colusa Irrigation District and Jerry Brown, General Manager Contra Costa Water District were witnesses. The hearing’s purpose was to highlight regulatory burdens that hinder vital water storage improvement projects.

Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Tom McClintock (R-4) said, “This hearing will explore the bureaucratic obstacles that federal agencies have placed in the way of water development. Congress must make a concerted effort to identify and remove these obstacles that lead to increasingly expensive water and power and affect our prosperity as a nation”.

Ranking Member Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-38) countered, “The biggest impediment is limited public funding. New storage, when appropriated, is not impossible”.

Further coverage of the hearing will appear in the next ACWA News.

To read Thad Bettner’s testimony click here.

To read Jerry Brown’s testimony click here.

To watch the hearing, click here.