California Water

Few issues in California are more important or controversial than the state's limited supply of fresh water. For more than one hundred years, Californians have debated about, legislated on, and even fought over who gets to use the water, how to conserve it, and how much to charge for it. It is one of the reasons I came to Congress in 1975, and I have been working on it ever since.

I have led several key reform efforts that have significantly changed water policy in California. I was the chief sponsor of both the 1982 Reclamation Reform Act and the 1992 Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA), and I served as the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee at the time of the latter’s enactment. My goals then, as now, were to ensure that California's fresh water is accessible to farmers – who have always had access to it – but also to municipal users, fishermen, and the environment.

Today, the Bay-Delta is in serious trouble: threatened and endangered fish populations that rely on the ecosystem, like the Delta smelt, salmon, and striped bass, are in decline, which could have serious environmental and economic consequences for the state.

Below are articles and letters on the issue of protecting California's fresh water for those who need it.

1. 7/23/2007 -- Water
   Press Release
   House Approves Miller's Water Recycling Bill
   Bill would provide federal partner for local water recycling projects; Next step is in U.S. Senate

2. 7/18/2007 -- Interior
   Press Release
   Miller and Rahall Press Interior Department for Response to Congressional Inquiry

3. 6/8/2007 -- Environment
   Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez), a long-time proponent of the Endangered Species Act and Bay-Delta fish and wildlife issues, led a congressional request today for a hearing on the ongoing crisis in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Miller was joined by five other Bay-Delta area Members of Congress -- Reps. Tauscher, Honda, Thompson, Woolsey, and Lantos -- in sending the letter below to Congresswoman Grace Napolitano, Chair of the Subcommittee on Water and Power.

4. 5/21/2007 -- Environment
   Press Release
   Miller and Rahall Launch Inquiry into New Conflict of Interest at Interior Department
   Senior lawmakers press Bush Administration on manipulation of science in a California endangered species decision

5. 3/16/2007 -- Environment
   Press Release
   Miller's New Water Bill Would Benefit Pittsburg and Other Bay Area Communiites
   Measure would provide federal partner for seven local water recycling projects

6. Press Release -- 3/16/2006
   Miller, Tauscher, California Members Call for Increased Levee Funding

7. Statement -- 2/9/2006
   Opening Statment by George Miller at Field Hearing on Delta Fish Crisis

8. Press Release -- 2/9/2006
   Bush Cuts Levee Repair Money to Zero, Leaves Californians Vulnerable; Bush Budget Ignores Lessons of Katrina and Provides ‘Zero’ Funding for CALFED Bay-Delta Levee Program

9. Letter -- 7/27/2005
   Letter from Congressman Miller to Resources Committee Chairman Pombo and Ranking Member Rahall on calling for oversight hearings on the species crash in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta

10. Press Release -- 7/13/2005
    Audit Questions "Integrity" of Federal Water Policy in California; Representative Miller Says this is Another Example of Bush Administration Manipulating Science for Political Purposes

11. Press Release -- 6/24/2005
    Miller Statement on Supreme Court Decision on California Water

12. Press Release -- 5/12/2005
    Members of Congress Seek Answers on Delta Fish Decline

13. Press Release -- 2/17/2005
    Miller Says Water Contracts Are Open to Legal Challenge

14. Press Release -- 12/22/2004
    Tulare Lake Settlement Could Have Devastating Consequences, Warns Miller

15. Press Release -- 12/15/2004
    New Report Shows Cost of Water Handouts

16. Study from the Environmental Working Group
    Water Subsidies Cost Taxpayers $418 Million Annually

17. Article from the Watershed Portal -- 10/23/2004
    More Delta Water May Head South

18. Article from the Washington Post -- 10/8/2004
    Democrats Seek Probe Of California Water Plan

19. Press Release -- 10/8/2004
    Lawmakers Call for an Investigation into Possible Political Interference in California Water Analysis

20. Statement -- 10/6/2004
    Statement on the passage of the CALFED bill, H.R. 2828

21. Article from the Sacrament Bee -- 10/2/2004
    Rewrite softens report on risks to fish

22. Press Release -- 9/30/2004
    New Letter to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on California Water Contracts

23. Press Release -- 8/20/2004
    Bush Administration Denies Public a Chance to Speak Out on Controversial Water Deals; Miller, Pelosi, others request extension of public comment period until 60 days after new environmental analysis is complete

24. Op-Ed from the San Francisco Chronicle -- 9/10/2003
    Federal Impact on State Resources Selling California's water down the river