Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act
Latest action. Read the second time. Placed on Senate legislative calendarThe list of measures reported out of committee and eligible for floor action. Being on the calendar is not a promise of a vote.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) under General Orders. Calendar No. 306.
Sacramento-San Joaquin Valley Emergency Water Delivery Act - Title I: Central Valley Project Water Reliability - (Sec. 101) Amends the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) to include among the Act's purposes to: (1) ensure that water dedicated to fish and wildlife purposes is replaced and provided to Central Valley Project (CVP) water contractors by December 31, 2018, at the lowest cost reasonably achievable, and (2) facilitate and expedite water transfers in accordance with that Act.
(Sec. 102) Redefines "anadromous fish" to: (1) include those native stocks of salmon (including steelhead) and sturgeon that, as of October 30, 1992, were present in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their tributaries and that ascend those rivers and their tributaries to reproduce after maturing in San Francisco Bay or the Pacific Ocean; and (2) exclude non-native striped bass and American shad.
Defines "reasonable flows" as water flows capable of being maintained taking into account competing consumptive uses of water and economic, environmental, and social factors.
(Sec. 103) Eliminates existing limitations on the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to enter into any new contracts for water supply from the CVP.
Directs the Secretary to renew any existing long-term repayment or water service contract, upon request of the contractor, that provides for the delivery of water from the CVP for a period of 40 years (the current contractual term is 25 years). Requires new or renewed contracts to include a provision that requires the Secretary to charge only for water actually delivered.
(Sec. 104) Directs the Secretary to take all necessary actions to facilitate and expedite CVP water transfers in accordance with CVPIA or any other provision of federal reclamation law and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). Requires: (1) the contracting district from which the water is coming, the agency, or the Secretary to determine if a written water transfer proposal is complete within 45 days after the date of submission of such proposal; and (2) the district, agency, or Secretary to state with specificity what must be added or revised if such proposal is determined to be incomplete.
The summary continues for 50 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House amended" stage on February 5, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on February 10, 2014: Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 306.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
David Valadao (R-CA) introduced it on January 29, 2014, and 16 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 16 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on January 29, 2014, 4607 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4595 days ago, on February 10, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers