April 1, 2015The Honorable Felicia Marcus, Chair
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I street, 26th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
The Honorable Tom Howard, Executive Director
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I street, 26th Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Chairwoman Marcus and Executive Director Howard,
We write today regarding the request for modification of the Temporary Urgency Change Petition (TUCP) submitted by the Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) on March 24, 2015. We believe that the State Water Resources Control Board should approve the request for modification which will provide the Bureau and DWR with the flexibility to manage our water systems through September.
As you both are well aware, a vast majority of Californians are already dealing with extreme drought conditions. Both the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project have notified water users to expect record low or no water delivery this year. This is the fourth year of drought and it is critical that we are able to meet basic water needs.
Without a major storm in the near future the San Joaquin Valley is going to experience another year of extremely dry weather. Without this modification many Californians may find themselves without access to water. This is already happening in a number of communities in the Valley, and without this additional flexibility we will see more communities go without water.
We understand that this request for modification will not solve the drought crisis, but at least we can try our best to meet the basic water needs of the Valley. We ask that the State Water Resources Control Board approve this request for modification.
Sincerely,
Andy Vidak
Senator, 14th District
Tom Berryhill
Senator, 8th District
Anthony Cannella
Senator, 12th District
Jim Patterson
Assemblymember, 23rd District
Devon Mathis
Assemblymember, 26th District
cc:
The Honorable Edmund G. Brown Jr., Governor
The Honorable Matt Rodriquez, Secretary for Environmental Protection
The Honorable Mark Cowin, Department of Water Resources
The Honorable David Murillo, Bureau of Reclamation
