California Water Crisis
More on California Water Crisis
In the Sierra Foothills in northeastern California lies the little town of Colfax, population 1,800, with a median household income of about $35,000.
Over the past several years, this little town has been utterly plundered by regulatory and litigatory excesses that have pushed the town to the edge of bankruptcy and ravaged families already struggling to make ends meet.
Orange County Water Summit, Anaheim, California. May 20, 2011
A generation ago, the principal objective of our federal water and power policy could be summed up in a word: Abundance.
It was an era when vast reservoirs produced a cornucopia of clean and plentiful water and power on a scale so vast that many communities didn't even bother metering the stuff.
Longworth House Office Building. March 31, 2009. M. Chairman: On behalf of my constituents I want to thank the committee for holding a hearing today on California's water crisis.
I think we need to be very clear that although the drought is a catalyst, the underlying problem is not an act of God but rather acts of government.
It has been estimated that roughly half of California's current water supply is consumed to meet various environmental regulations, most of which began in this very room.