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It’s hard to think about floods after five years of drought. But in Sacramento, we don’t have a choice. Scientists tell us that climate change will bring drier years and more severe storms. Recent history shows this threat, as California has bounced between drought and flood. As the recent catastrophic flooding in Baton Rouge, La., makes clear, we can’t wait for rising waters to plan for floods. An overhaul in how California prepares for and manages floods is long overdue.

The Bee’s post-election editorial, “California was a bulwark against Trumpism,” said that Trump must find it within himself to be president of the entire nation and not ignore California. Rather than go on a California apology tour, as The Bee suggests, perhaps Trump and Congress will deliver on something real for California – water for cities and farms. Eight decades ago, by developing a magnificent water-delivery system, the federal government delivered on a promise made to its own “rust belt” working class by developing the Central Valley into a domestic agricultural superpower.

 

Some of the bigger promises made by president-elect Trump will require the cooperation of the Republican-controlled Congress. Promises like a border wall, mass deportations, and repealing Obamacare will take some time. But with a stroke of his presidential pen, Mr. Trump can bring sudden and consequential changes that could reverberate throughout the Central California. One of the biggest changes could be to the distribution of water to farmers in the Valley.

 

 

Today, House committee legislators will be voting to approve or deny a California irrigation bill that would forgive $375 million worth of debt owed by one of the nation’s largest farm-focused irrigation districts, Westlands Water District.

Approving the plan would, essentially, relieve the federal government of its obligation to provide drainage for each farm in the 600,000-acre Westlands district. According to The Sacramento Bee, the estimated overall costs to the federal government of providing these drainage services is $3.5 billion and counting.