Lake Hodges Surface Water Improvement and Reclamation Act of 2009

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Water and Power of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The hearing will be held on Tuesday, April 27, 2010, at 3 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 745/H.R. 2265, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Magna Water District water reuse and groundwater recharge project, and for other purposes; S. 1138/H.R. 2442, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to expand the Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program, and for other purposes; S. 1573/H.R. 2741, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the city of Hermiston, Oregon, water recycling and reuse project, and for other purposes; S. 3099, to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project involving the American Falls Reservoir; S. 3100, to reinstate and extend the deadline for commencement of construction of a hydroelectric project involving the Little Wood River Ranch; H.R. 325, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Avra/Black Wash Reclamation and Riparian Restoration Project; H.R. 637, to authorize the Secretary, in cooperation with the City of San Juan Capistrano, California, to participate in the design, planning, and construction of an advanced water treatment plant facility and recycled water system, and for other purposes; H.R. 1120, To amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Central Texas Water Recycling and Reuse Project, and for other purposes; H.R. 1219, to make amendments to the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992; H.R. 1393, to amend the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water Resources Conservation and Improvement Act of 2000 to authorize additional projects and activities under that Act, and for other purposes; and H.R. 2522, to raise the ceiling on the Federal share of the cost of the Calleguas Municipal Water District Recycling Project, and for other purposes.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to [email protected] .gov.

For further information, please contact Tanya Trujillo at (202) 224- 5479 or Gina Weinstock at (202) 224-5684.

Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on National Parks. The hearing will be held on Wednesday, May 5, 2010, at 2:30 p.m., in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to review the National Park Service's implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send it to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510-6150, or by email to [email protected] .gov.

For further information, please contact David Brooks at (202) 224- 9863 or Allison Seyferth at (202) 224-4905.

Mr. Speaker, this bill is one that is balanced in time and in effort. At a time when snow packs on Sierra Nevada are very low, at a time when the fact that the water supplies for Southern California have been cut off dramatically through a court order restriction or outright abolition on pumping in the Delta area of the San Joaquin Valley because of the endangered delta smelt, and especially due to the fact that this problem has run into Hodges, those of us in the Federal Government can take a little bit of responsibility here, seeing the fact that a major contributing factor to the pollution problem in this lake was our procedure in the Endangered Species Act, though meaning well to preserve the species, took time that created the problem.

And let me explain to you what happened here. The lake lowered to a level where habitat for the least Bell's vireo was able to grow on the dry land during that time.

When authorities realized that this was going to become a problem, they were not allowed, because of the permitting process for what had been designated a habitat that was great for the least Bell's vireo, an endangered species at that time, now threatened, but basically to explain it is the process took so long that the lake raised back up, flooded out this habitat, and now that habitat is decomposing and polluting the waters of Lake Hodges.

No one meant this to happen. There was no intention by either the environmental agencies involved or by the local community to address this issue. It was just as our regulations go, we create these less- than-appropriate situations.

This bill is one that not only recognizes the responsibility of the Federal Government to the problem, but really is one where the local community is saying we will take on the great majority of the responsibility of addressing this issue. For every dollar of Federal funds that is committed under this bill, there will be $3 of local funds to address this.

And this is not an issue that only affects the 50th District, my district, and

a small section around Lake Hodges. The entirety of Southern California is desperate for the massive amounts of water--not massive--but large amounts of water that is not safe to drink at this time.

I think this is a good cooperative effort. The local community has said we will match you 3 to 1. We will hold harmless the fact that the procedures didn't work out like we would all like it to do, but we will be able to make available very safe drinking water in a very environmentally, friendly way.

And that's basically one of those things that I think we can look to as Federal representatives of cooperating, not doing something for the local community but helping the local community do itself and addressing concerns and problems that we might have been part and parcel involved, sticking to our responsibility as long as the local community is willing to stand up and take care of theirs.

With that, I would ask passage of this bill, Mr. Speaker. I think it's one of those, as the chairwoman for the committee pointed out, it's a reasonable, balanced approach. And when we talk about a 3 to 1 match, a local, I think we have got a very strong statement here that the Federal Government is willing to participate, especially when a community is willing to match us 3 to 1 for a situation that everyone agrees no one was without fault on this.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has scheduled a hearing entitled, ``Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Credit Rating Agencies.'' This hearing will be the third in a series of Subcommittee hearings examining some of the causes and consequences of the recent financial crisis. This third hearing will focus on the role of credit rating agencies in the financial crisis, using as case histories the credit rating agencies of Standard and Poor's and Moody's. A witness list will be available Monday, April 19, 2010.

The Subcommittee hearing has been scheduled for Friday, April 23, 2010, at 9:30 a.m., in Room G-50 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. For further information, please contact Elise Bean of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at 202-224-9505.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs has scheduled a hearing entitled, ``Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: The Role of Investment Banks.'' This hearing will be the fourth in a series of Subcommittee hearings examining some of the causes and consequences of the recent financial crisis. The fourth hearing will focus on the role of investment banks in the securitization of residential mortgage related products, and the development, marketing, and trading of residential mortgage related structured financial products such as collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) and credit default swaps (CDS). The hearing will also review certain investment and trading activities of investment banks that involve residential mortgage based securities and related products. A witness list will be available Thursday, April 22, 2010.

The Subcommittee hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday, April 27, 2010, at 11 a.m., in Room 106 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building. For further information, please contact Elise Bean of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations at 202-224-9505.

committee on indian affairs

Mr. Speaker, I would like to yield to the author of this piece of legislation, this bipartisan piece of legislation, as much time as he shall consume, the gentleman from California (Mr. Bilbray).

May I simply say in closing on our side that I have to commend the gentleman from California for coming up with this water recycling project that would basically pre-treat the impaired surface of Lake Hodges, California, so that consumer water needs are going to be met.

The drought has largely been man-made because of litigation to protect a 3-inch fish, and it will decrease Southern California's water supplies. As a result, there will be water rationing in some areas and water rates will increase for working families and businesses.

There will be less imported water to recycle. However, water recycling is still, in the long term, a necessity for California and other arid regions in the West. And all these projects together will help ensure that there will be no such thing as a waste of our water. So I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 1219) to make amendments to the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the bill under consideration.

H.R. 1219 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to participate in the Lake Hodges Surface Water Improvement and Reclamation Project.

This project would pre-treat 13,000 acre-feet of impaired Lake Hodges water currently unavailable for consumptive use. We have no objection to this noncontroversial bill.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.