Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Clovis Unified Mourns Passing of Former Superintendent Terry Bradley

6 hours ago

Clovis At-Risk Missing Person Found Dead in Fresno Canal

6 hours ago

DOJ Asks California Sheriffs for Names of Inmates Who Aren’t Citizens

7 hours ago

Israel Agrees to Allow Syrian Troops Limited Access to Sweida

8 hours ago

Border Patrol Agents Raid a Home Depot in Northern California

8 hours ago

Man Admits to Killing Missing Bass Lake Resident, Madera County Authorities Say

1 day ago

Trump Diagnosed With Vein Condition Causing Leg Swelling, White House Says

1 day ago

US Seeks One-Day Sentence for Police Officer Convicted in Breonna Taylor Case

1 day ago

Manhattan Prosecutor Who Handled Epstein Cases Is Fired

1 day ago
An Attempt to Steal Valley Water in the Dark of Night
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 5 years ago on
June 19, 2020

Share

With a global pandemic, a catastrophic economic recession, and record-high unemployment numbers, one would think the state has enough issues to tackle. But proponents of a state water grab that I have been fighting since the day I was sworn into office in 2012 disagree.

Where others see turmoil and anguish, they see opportunity. Apparently, they believe in the adage, “Never let a crisis go to waste.”

Portrait of Adam Gray

Adam C. Gray

Opinion

With no discussion, no compromise, and no public hearings an effort is underway to insert language into the budget that would authorize the State Water Resources Control Board to impose their water grab as a condition of approving the relicensing of our local hydroelectric dams.

State Board Wants to Cancel Century-Old Water Rights

This licensing scheme, known as the 401 Water Quality Certification, attempts to force us to either stop generating clean and renewable hydroelectricity or comply with the Water Board’s outrageous demand to cancel our century-old water rights and more than double the amount of fresh water that flows into the ocean through the Delta.

During this abbreviated legislative session, we all feel intense pressure to find solutions to the economic devastation created by the coronavirus. We’re working desperately to fill an unprecedented $54 billion hole in our state’s finances, address record unemployment, support students, and teachers suddenly forced out of their classrooms and safely get the economy back up and running. In the midst of this work, proponents of the water grab hope they can sneak their language into the budget using what’s called a “trailer bill.”

Trailer Bill Is Vehicle for Water Heist

Trailer bills are supposed to establish the rules necessary to implement our budget priorities. Every year, we pass trailer bills to ensure the state’s money is spent the way we intend.
This year, 401 Water Quality Certification language was inserted into the natural resources trailer bill to unilaterally authorize the Water Board to impose their flow regimes without any further discussion.

If this trailer bill is enacted, the state won’t be required to wait for the courts. That could lead to enormous water losses for northern San Joaquin Valley growers without providing any proven benefits to fish and wildlife.

Normally, water users can take the state to court to stop such dictatorial moves. It happened in 2018 when the state tried to take water from the Byron-Bethany Irrigation District. When the case got to court, the state’s attempts were roundly rejected.

If this trailer bill is enacted, the state won’t be required to wait for the courts. That could lead to enormous water losses for northern San Joaquin Valley growers without providing any proven benefits to fish and wildlife.

Efforts are underway to force this issue out into the open so we can reach a reasonable compromise, but those efforts have fallen short so far. So proponents are pushing for a vote as soon as possible.

A CEQA Runaround Without Public Participation

This bill would remove public participation otherwise required by the California Environmental Quality Act. There would be no testimony showing new scientific data — data that often refutes the decades-old studies the Water Board prefers. There would be no scoping meetings, nor would we even receive notice. The Water Board would be able to take water from our Valley without even telling us until after the decision had already been made.

The far-reaching consequences and dramatic implications of this bill should be discussed in full public view.

The far-reaching consequences and dramatic implications of this bill should be discussed in full public view. Unless the goal is to purposefully sneak such an important change in public policy through the legislative process in the dark of night, there is absolutely no reason to take advantage of the dire circumstances that we are struggling to confront.

About the Author

Assemblymember Adam C. Gray represents the 21st Assembly District, which includes all of Merced County and portions of Stanislaus County.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Who is the Future US Attorney for Fresno? Two Big Names Say They’re Not Interested

DON'T MISS

Fresno Firefighters Rescue Girl Trapped in Chimney

DON'T MISS

Rubio Says 10 Americans Detained in Venezuela Have Been Released

DON'T MISS

US Firms to Develop Syria Energy Masterplan After Trump Lifts Sanctions

DON'T MISS

More than Severance: Fresno Unified Wants to Give $162K to Nikki Henry to End ‘Dispute’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Man Accused of Chasing, Shooting Victim

DON'T MISS

What You Need to Know About Trump, Epstein and the MAGA Controversy

DON'T MISS

How Many Millions of Dollars Will Fresno Get From Airport Car Rentals?

DON'T MISS

DOJ Wants California Jail Data on Noncitizen Inmates. Fresno Sheriff Reviews Request.

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Three in Drug Raid, Recover Firearms and Narcotics

UP NEXT

Why California Ag Is at Odds Over Converting Land to Solar Farms

UP NEXT

Fresno County Irrigation District Pitches 137% Fee Hike for More Kings River Flood Water

UP NEXT

Federal Immigration Crackdown Threatens California’s Historic Housing Reforms

UP NEXT

Governors Should Be the Face of the Democratic Party

UP NEXT

A New Invader Threatens California Water Supplies. Can State Stop Its Spread? 

UP NEXT

MAGA Is Tearing Itself Apart Over Jeffrey Epstein

UP NEXT

Valadao, Other California GOP Members of Congress Might Regret Backing Trump’s Megabill

UP NEXT

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

UP NEXT

Why Measure C Is Not Measured

UP NEXT

Nathan Magsig: Why Our Second Amendment Resolution Matters to the People of the Central Valley

US Firms to Develop Syria Energy Masterplan After Trump Lifts Sanctions

3 hours ago

More than Severance: Fresno Unified Wants to Give $162K to Nikki Henry to End ‘Dispute’

3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man Accused of Chasing, Shooting Victim

3 hours ago

What You Need to Know About Trump, Epstein and the MAGA Controversy

4 hours ago

How Many Millions of Dollars Will Fresno Get From Airport Car Rentals?

4 hours ago

DOJ Wants California Jail Data on Noncitizen Inmates. Fresno Sheriff Reviews Request.

4 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Three in Drug Raid, Recover Firearms and Narcotics

5 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Lavisha Denise Beard

5 hours ago

Blast at Los Angeles Sheriff’s Facility Leaves Three Dead, Media Reports

5 hours ago

Clovis Unified Mourns Passing of Former Superintendent Terry Bradley

6 hours ago

Who is the Future US Attorney for Fresno? Two Big Names Say They’re Not Interested

The dismissal of the U.S. Attorney in the Fresno area before a full-time nominee was appointed was unusual, a man who previously held the jo...

27 minutes ago

27 minutes ago

Who is the Future US Attorney for Fresno? Two Big Names Say They’re Not Interested

A juvenile girl was rescued early Thursday, July 17, 2025, after becoming trapped inside a chimney at a Fresno home and was hospitalized with minor injuries. (Fresno FD)
47 minutes ago

Fresno Firefighters Rescue Girl Trapped in Chimney

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a nuclear cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony with Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani (not pictured), at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 16, 2025. (Reuters/Umit Bektas)
2 hours ago

Rubio Says 10 Americans Detained in Venezuela Have Been Released

Men work at a makeshift oil refinery site in Marchmarin town, southern countryside of Idlib, Syria December 16, 2015. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

US Firms to Develop Syria Energy Masterplan After Trump Lifts Sanctions

3 hours ago

More than Severance: Fresno Unified Wants to Give $162K to Nikki Henry to End ‘Dispute’

Julian Nathaniel Benavidez was arrested in connection with a July 6 shooting in northwest Fresno that left one person injured. (Fresno PD)
3 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Man Accused of Chasing, Shooting Victim

President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)
4 hours ago

What You Need to Know About Trump, Epstein and the MAGA Controversy

4 hours ago

How Many Millions of Dollars Will Fresno Get From Airport Car Rentals?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend