The deal to restore the river is still being negotiated.
River deal hits a crosscurrent
Texan in House may try to block funds to restore San Joaquin.
By Michael Doyle - Bee Washington Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Congressional budget hawks are maneuvering to block an ambitious San Joaquin River restoration deal.
Or, at least, fire a warning shot.
Today, a Texas Republican is threatening to offer an amendment cutting off federal funds for the proposed river restoration. If approved, it would be a major blow to a river plan with a federal price tag currently estimated to be half a billion dollars.
"It's basically a killer amendment," Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, said Tuesday. "It would kill the bill."
But skeptics of the San Joaquin River restoration plan say the amendment cutting off funding sends an important signal.
"It just shows there are major problems with this settlement," Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, said Tuesday.
Though they are neighbors and fellow Republicans, Radanovich and Nunes vehemently disagree over the San Joaquin River. Throughout Tuesday, they and their respective allies and surrogates were wrangling for advantage on and off the House floor.
Radanovich supports plans to restore water flows below Friant Dam, so that salmon can be reintroduced into the San Joaquin River before 2014. State and federal money is needed to prepare the exhausted river channel, build levees and make other improvements.
Nunes opposes the current restoration plans, which would cut irrigation supplies to farmers on the San Joaquin Valley's west side by an estimated 19 percent annually. He is the only San Joaquin Valley lawmaker to publicly oppose river restoration legislation.
