Assemblyman Adam Gray says he’s lost another committee assignment over water battles
Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced, said he was removed from the chairmanship of the Governmental Organization Committee over the No. 1 issue in his district — water.
The Merced Democrat lost a previous committee assignment because of his opposition to State Water Board proposals to take flows away from agriculture and other water users on the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers.
In April 2015, Gray was removed from the Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee a day after a narrow committee vote approved his legislation to protect local communities that rely on water from those rivers.
“History repeats itself,” Gray said in a statement released Saturday. “I have spent my entire time in public office fighting Sacramento’s insatiable thirst for the Valley’s water. Every time I am punished by my own party’s leadership for standing up for my district, it is a reminder that I was elected to represent the people who live and work in Merced and Stanislaus counties.”
Gray said that Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon called him Friday evening to remove him from the government organization committee chairmanship, which he held for six years.
Rendon released a statement citing a different reason for appointing Assemblyman Jim Frazier, D-Fairfield, to oversee the government organization committee. Rendon said Frazier engineered an overdue state effort to fund transportation repairs through a gasoline-tax increase and “will apply his knowhow to a new policy area.”
Gray was the only Democrat on the committee who voted against a budget trailer bill earlier this year that included language affecting the relicensing of the Don Pedro dam. He said that Rendon during the phone call Friday referred to his vote against approving the state budget.
The Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts are in the process of relicensing the hydro power generation plant through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It’s an opportunity for state officials friendly with the environmental lobby to add conditions to the new license to benefit fish and recreation on the Tuolumne River.
Gray lost the committee assignment amid new developments in the water battles between state regulators and local irrigation districts, which have resisted State Water Board efforts to increase spring river flows for salmon restoration.
Attempts to delay FERC relicensing?
According to Gray and his staff, the state water regulators are trying to delay the FERC relicensing process so they can make demands for higher river flows for environmental purposes.
Some of the new demands for the Tuolumne go beyond the controversial flow requirements of the Bay-Delta water quality plan, which were approved by the state water board two years ago. As an example, the irrigation districts would need to fill in massive holes in the river created by miners more than 150 years ago, Gray’s staff said.
The state agency would also require holding a larger pool of water behind Don Pedro dam to cool the water that flows into the Sacramento-San Joaquin river delta some 70 miles downstream.
“You could have a dry year where there is still a lot of water behind the dam, but growers can’t get a drop of it because of the cold water pool,” said Adam Capper of Gray’s staff.
According to Gray, the flow requirements would reduce agricultural water deliveries and shrink drinking water supplies in dry years. Staff for the State Water Resources Control Board released the new proposals after business hours Nov. 30, originally giving only 10 days for public comment, Gray said.
The comment period has been extended to Jan. 4, after which the requirements could be implemented without a water board vote. Gray’s staff said the TID would be held to the requirements if FERC were to honor the state demands.
Gray said the state actions are trying to skirt voluntary settlement agreements between the state and local irrigation districts — the solution favored by Gov. Gavin Newsom. According to Gray, the new regulations would have severe economic and social impacts on 460,000 residents in his assembly district.
In joint comments Monday, the MID and TID said Gray has been a strong voice for the Valley and it’s unfortunate he was removed from the Assembly committee chair.
The irrigation districts said they’re optimistic FERC will be fair in considering the state demands for the license renewal and will weigh the impacts on Don Pedro’s operations, its customers and communities served by the hydroelectric project.
“We’re reviewing the draft certification, but simply put, initial analysis indicates that the impacts are worse than the Bay-Delta (plan), as the State Water Board is reaching for more control over our project operations and water supply,” the joint statement said.
The TID and MID are claiming the State Water Board hasn’t followed the statutory process and has thereby waived its ability to add conditions to the new license for Don Pedro.
This story was originally published December 15, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
