House Committee on Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-UT) issued the following statement in response to the Bureau of Reclamation’s latest announcement to flush Trinity River water towards non-listed fish species. 

“As California and the West are drying up, the Obama Administration has announced another unjustified water grab that prioritizes fish over people. People out West are suffering from lack of water, but the Administration has not demonstrated that this massive diversion will even help the non-listed fish. The Bureau of Reclamation must provide the scientific justification behind this decision, especially when the water now being flushed down the river was dedicated to Central Valley farmers that need relief. Unfortunately, this decision is a part of larger salt in the wound policies that make a bad situation even worse.  H.R. 2898, the bipartisan legislation that the House passed in July, will help bring much-needed relief.”