Photo: CA Assembly
Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D AD-28) was appointed by California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D AD-47) to travel to Washington, D.C. to be part of a public hearing on the constant near “crisis” water situation in California. This year it’s real.
Members of Congress, Ken Salazar (Secretary of the Interior), California’s Director of Water Resources, and elected state officials will meet in the Capitol Wednesday, September 30, 2009.
The US Department of the Interior is taking the situation seriously. This month Secretary Salazar, in a rare move, appointed David Nawi as a Senior Adviser for California. “The water crisis and land management challenges in our nation’s most populous state, California, as well as the extensive interior land resources in Nevada can be better served with an ‘on the ground’ representative,” according to Salazar.
In an unusually frank press release titled “Reality Check: California’s Water Crisis” (SEP 17, ‘09) the Interior Department states, “A third year of severe drought is affecting the lives of all Californians.” According to the release we have a crisis “even more troubling than critics contend.” With one third less water available, claims that it is a “regulatory drought” are countered with; the drought is “caused by below average precipitation and significantly lower run-off” not governmental miss-steps.
Along with other legislators Anna Caballero has no small job ahead. “We face many challenges if California’s water infrastructure is not fixed,” she said. “These discussions are critical because they bring together federal and California officials to address short term and long term solutions that are needed in order to help solve our state’s water problems.”
In appointing Anna Caballero Assembly Speaker Bass said, “Solving California’s decades-old water problems remains a top priority.” “Assemblymember Caballero has been one of our top negotiators on water and she will bring a valuable perspective,” she continued. “The meetings Assemblymember Caballero will be participating in with Secretary Salazar and other stakeholders will help provide important information as we work to put the complicated pieces in place to reach what would be a historic agreement.”
Listen in to the meeting: Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 5AM to 9AM PST, by calling 1-888-946-8386 (pass code 8298364).
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