Growing up in Manteca, I have seen devastating floods and crippling drought as well as years of agricultural bounty. Economists and insurance companies dub the former `Acts of God` and the latter a `net surplus`, but I believe that all of these are the result of hard work. The agricultural bounty comes from the hard work and sweat of those long-suffering farmers, ranchers, and dairymen who battle inclement weather, market prices, and their own herds and orchards to create a multi-billion dollar industry. The floods and droughts are also the result of hard work. Not of Mother Nature, but of political elites, a crushing bureaucracy, and a labyrinth of regulations and lawyers. In the modern day, with all of our technology and innovation, a lack of political willpower to build more water storage, to store up weakened levees, to fortify conveyances, to partner with neighboring jurisdictions and to stand up for the legal water rights of communities in the Delta watershed is a disgrace. Those we have chosen to represent us in Washington are Delta water dilettantes – they derive great pleasure from appearing to be interested in the issue while failing to take any kind of substantive action or draft the critical legislation needed to protect the beating heart of California’s water system. As the only candidate for U.S. Representative who has made firm public commitments to see all of these issues made known to Washington and Sacramento on behalf of my constituents, I would like to share with you many of the resources that have been instrumental in my education on Delta water issues. There are multiple jurisdictions, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and business groups that have a pony in this race. That is precisely why I have proposed the formation of a Congressional Delta Caucus – to act as a megaphone shouting the collective will of Delta area residents into Washington`s ear: we need our water.
In Liberty – Jeff Takada