Drought conditions persist in all counties in California, with a majority classified as in either extreme or exceptional drought. Notwithstanding March rains, California is experiencing its third consecutive dry year, which has resulted in abnormally low reservoir levels, as well as low surface and groundwater levels. Current drought conditions in California and much of the West have fueled congressional interest in drought and its effects on water supplies, agriculture, and fish and wildlife. Several bills have been introduced in the 113 th Congress to address different aspects of drought in California and other regions. Some provisions in S. 2198 as introduced were broadened to apply to states outside of California; however, the Senate-passed version of S. 2198 dropped many of these provisions. S. 2198 as passed by the Senate would direct the Secretary of Agriculture (added since introduction), the Secretary of Commerce, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to undertake numerous actions that would address emergency drought impacts in California and other states, by aiming to increase water supplies for California water users, prioritizing and expediting program funding for certain drought mitigation activities (e.g., projects providing drinking water and avoiding loss of permanent crops, and including grants for pilot projects increasing reservoir supplies in the Colorado River Basin), providing for emergency environmental reviews, and addressing Klamath River Basin water issues. The Senate-passed version of S. 2198 includes eight sections, whose provisions range from mandating maximization of California water supplies—consistent with laws and regulations—through specific project development, management, and operations directives and addressing project environmental reviews, to prioritizing funding for certain emergency drought activities under existing water laws and directing development of a comprehensive National Academy of Sciences study on increasing water supplies through control of an invasive plant species known as saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima). This policy approach is aimed at addressing drought, and in doing so, touches upon many long-standing and controversial issues associated with operations of the federal Central Valley Project (CVP), managed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (hereinafter referred to as Reclamation), and the State Water Project (SWP), managed by the California Department of Water Resources. The final five sections of S. 2198 are the focus of this report. Specifically, Section 8 states that the authority for this section of the bill would expire when the governor suspends the state drought emergency declaration. According to the section, this operation is to be consistent with the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) order for a temporary urgency change (TUC) in terms of response to the drought, effective January 31, 2014, as modified by subsequent orders. There are some questions and potential issues that could arise from changes in the operations of the Delta Gates. The practical effect of the provision would depend on how the state and federal agencies or courts determine what and when such actions are consistent with laws and regulations. These basins would have to directly affect the water supply of California (including the Colorado River basin).
Over the past five years, portions of the country have been gripped with extensive drought, including the state of California. Drought conditions in California are "exceptional" and "extreme" in much of the state, including in prime agricultural areas of the Central Valley, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Such conditions pose significant challenges to water managers who before this dry winter were already grappling with below-normal surface water storage in the state's largest reservoirs. Groundwater levels in many areas of the state also have declined due to increased pumping over the last three dry years. While March rain had improved the water year outlook somewhat—moving the year from the driest on record in terms of precipitation to date to the third-driest—water managers are fearful of the long-term impacts of a relatively dry winter and little existing snowpack to refresh supplies later in the year.
Because of the extent of the drought in California, drought impacts are varied and widespread. Most of the San Joaquin Valley is in exceptional drought, and federal and state water supply allotments are at historic lows. The state has also had to restrict diversions from some rivers and streams, including the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, two of the state's largest rivers. Many farmers are fallowing lands and some are removing permanent tree crops. Cities and towns have also been affected, and the governor has requested voluntary water use cutbacks of 20%. The effects of the drought are also likely to be felt on fish and wildlife species and the recreational and commercial activities they support, potentially including North Coast salmon fisheries.
Congress is considering several bills that would address drought conditions in California. This report discusses S. 2198, as passed by the Senate on May 22, 2014. S. 2198 would address drought impacts in California and assist with drought response. The Senate-passed version of S. 2198 contains eight sections, whose provisions range from mandating maximization of California water supplies, through specific emergency project development, management, and operations directives and addressing project environmental reviews (as long as actions are consistent with applicable law and regulations and not highly inefficient), to prioritizing funding for certain emergency drought activities under existing water laws. In maximizing water supplies, the bill would address project operations that relate to long-standing and controversial issues associated with management of the federal Bureau of Reclamation's Central Valley Project (CVP) and the California Department of Water Resources' State Water Project (SWP), which are operated in coordination under a coordinated operations agreement (COA). Title II of S. 2198 as introduced, which would have expanded the assistance potentially available under an emergency declaration for drought (or other emergencies), was not included in the Senate-passed version of S. 2198.