San Joaquin Times

WASHINGTON – On June 22, during an Appropriations Committee markup, Representative Josh Harder (CA-9) introduced an amendment that would stop the Delta Tunnel Project. The Delta Tunnel Conveyance Project would ship water down to LA and Beverly Hills and poses major threats to the San Joaquin community. Though Harder’s amendment didn’t gain enough support to move forward this time, this represents a critical moment in efforts to stop the disastrous water grab.

“The Central Valley is the fruit and nut basket of the entire globe – our water is our most precious resource, but if the Delta Tunnel water grab is allowed to move forward, tens of thousands of acres of some of the richest agricultural ground in the world could be destroyed,” said Rep. Harder. “Today during our House Appropriations Committee markup, I introduced an amendment to stop this $16 billion boondoggle that would ship our water to Beverly Hills. We’ve killed this zombie project before, and we’ll do it again. We won’t let them take our water.”

The Delta Tunnel is opposed by nearly all residents of the Central Valley, and Rep. Harder has been working to stop the project for years. In January and February, Rep. Harder held town halls in French Camp and Lodi to give San Joaquin County residents an opportunity to make their voices heard on plans to construct the Delta Tunnel. Hundreds of residents attended and all of them were strongly against the project. Earlier this year, he also introduced legislation to stop the Delta Tunnel.

Watch Rep. Harder introduce his amendment HERE, see the amendment text HERE, and read a transcript of his remarks below:

Thank you so much. Madam Chair, I represent the San Joaquin Central Valley, specifically San Joaquin County. I'm a fifth generation resident.

My great great grandfather came out on a wagon train in 1850. He came 5000 miles in search of gold and then he stopped 50 miles short – didn't quite make it all the way and started farming peaches in the city of Manteca instead. We've been there five generations, my daughter, now 15 months old, is going to be the sixth generation.

But I'm very concerned at the legacy that we're going to be able to pass on to my daughter's generation specifically, because of the exact reasons why my family and most others came to our community, which is because of our water.

My area is one of the best places to farm in the entire world and we're very proud of that – we’re the fruit and nut basket of the entire globe, but that is imperiled for many reasons, but most specifically right now because of a project that's being built in California – a $16 billion boondoggle. It's going to ship water from my community and others in Northern California, all the way down to Southern California. A project called the Delta Conveyance Project.

This project has gone by a lot of different names. It’s a zombie project. We've killed it time and time again for the past 60 years. Now it's rearing its head once again.

If this project moves forward tens of thousands of acres in our community will be pushed out of production. Some of the richest agricultural ground in the world could be destroyed, it could lead to the extinction of endangered salmon species. And it could lead to more toxic algae blooms across our community.

We already have some of the worst air quality in America – that is only going to be compounded if this project moves forward.

This is an issue on which our entire community, our entire region, stands united. We disagree on a lot of things – in California, we have a saying: whiskey is for drinking and water is for fighting. And that's often the issue. 

But on this, we have environmentalists and farmers together, all opposed to this dangerous and damning project that has no benefits except for the fact that it robs from Peter to pay Paul. It takes water from us all the way just to make sure that folks in Beverly Hills have better, cleaner, greener lawns. I don't think that makes a lot of sense.

This takes from our livelihoods just to provide for other people's luxuries. And so my amendment is dead simple. All it does is going to stop this disastrous project that's going to take away our community's most valuable resource.

There's been a lot of conversation over the past couple of days about taxpayer spending. I think this is a perfect example of a boondoggle project with no benefits and an awful lot of costs. Tens of billions of dollars. It's pegged at 16 billion – I think we've seen time and time again projects like this come way beyond budget and way beyond schedule. And it's important to make sure that we stop this project before it begins.

So thank you so much. This is the first time that we're going to be able to have a discussion on this particular project. I think that's a very important historical moment, especially given that this has been under discussion across our region for 60 years. So thank you. And with that, I yield back the remainder of my time.

Original source can be found here