SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER
Highland City Hall, 27215 Baseline Street, Highland, California
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
10:00 a.m. Pacific Time

• Official hearing transcript
• Press Release - Expanded Santa Ana Sucker Critical Habitat Designation Threatens Regional Economic Growth, Water Supply (10/18/2011)

OVERSIGHT FIELD HEARING ON:

• "Questionable Fish Science and Environmental Lawsuits: Jobs and Water Supplies At Risk in The Inland Empire"

Watch the Archived Hearing Webcast:

OPENING STATEMENTS:

The Honorable Tom McClintock
Chairman

The Honorable Jerry Lewis, CA-41
Member of Congress

The Honorable Ken Calvert, CA-44
Member of Congress

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

The Honorable Pete Aguilar
Mayor
City of Redlands, California

Bob Stockton
Chairman, Economic Development Council
Greater Riverside Chambers of Commerce
Riverside, California
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Ileene Anderson
Biologist
Center for Biological Diversity
Los Angeles, California
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Ren Lohoefener
Regional Director
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Sacramento, California

Colonel Michael Wehr
Commander, South Pacific Division
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
San Francisco, California

John Rossi
General Manager
Western Municipal Water District
Riverside, California

Stacey Aldstadt
General Manager
City of San Bernardino Water Department
San Bernardino, California

BACKGROUND:

The hearing will examine the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s recent designation of nearly 10,000 acres of critical habitat for the Santa Ana sucker to the detriment of jobs, local economies and precious water supplies. Local analyses have calculated the economic effect of the designation at a more than $4 billion loss to the region. Reps. Lewis and Calvert wrote a letter to Chairmen Hastings and McClintock requesting the Natural Resources Committee to hold a field hearing on this issue.