SUBCOMMITTEE ON WATER AND POWER
1324 Longworth House Office Building
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
10:00 a.m.

• Official hearing transcript
• Press Release - Water Storage Vital to Rural Communities, Job Creation, Economic Growth (2/7/2012)

OVERSIGHT HEARING ON:

• "Water for Our Future and Job Creation: Examining Regulatory and Bureaucratic Barriers to New Surface Storage Infrastructure"

OPENING STATEMENT:

The Honorable Tom McClintock
Chairman

The Honorable Doc Hastings
Full Committee Chairman

The Honorable Paul Gosar
Committee Member

The Honorable Scott Tipton
Committee Member

The Honorable Cory Gardner
Member of Congress

WITNESSES AND TESTIMONY:

Panel I

Pat O’Toole
President
Family Farm Alliance
Savery, Wyoming
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Thad Bettner
General Manager
Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District
Willows, California
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Jerry Brown
General Manager
Contra Costa Water District
Concord, California
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Norm Semanko
Executive Director and General Counsel
Idaho Water Users Association
Boise, Idaho
(Truth in Testimony Form)

Michael Gabaldon
Director, Technical Resources
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
Denver, Colorado

BACKGROUND:

This hearing will examine regulatory and bureaucratic barriers to building new dams and reservoirs throughout the West. Competing demands for limited water and the need to capture more water for human, environmental and other purposes mean that all water supply development strategies should be on the table. History has proven time and again that surface water storage can and will provide long-lasting, multi-purpose economic benefits. While current fiscal conditions greatly limit federal funding for infrastructure projects in general, there is an urgent and proven need to reduce the planning time and regulatory permitting costs associated with federal and non-federal dams and reservoirs so that such projects can be built cheaper and faster. Such reforms will create more water and empower local job creation.