SACRAMENTO, CA – State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) released the following statement upon the announcement of additional Central Valley Project water contract conversations by the United States Bureau of Reclamation:

“These contracts will ensure water for thousands of farmworkers, farmers and a reliable food supply chain for two-thirds of the United States. Water is life and when there is a shortage, lands are fallowed, farmworkers are displaced and crops are gone forever. I want to thank President Joe Biden and his team for acting quickly to secure these negotiated clean water deals that will benefit many families in need for my district, California and this Nation.”

The water district conversion contracts are a product of the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, which was signed into law by former President Barack Obama in 2016. The legislation directs the Secretary of the Interior to convert any water service contract to a repayment or a prepayment contract, upon the request of the water contractor. The benefit for water contractors – and by extension the end users of the water – is that the water system would then have a secured right to the use of water developed by the project for which they paid.

The completed water contract conversations announced by the Bureau this week include City of Avenal, City of Coalinga, City of Huron, Clear Creek Water District, Contra Costa Water District, County of Colusa, El Dorado Irrigation District, Pacheco Water District, Panoche Water District, San Benito County Water District and San Luis Water District.

Media Contact: Jim.Evans@sen.ca.gov

About Senator Melissa Hurtado

Senator Melissa Hurtado represents a new generation of Latina leaders as the youngest woman ever elected to the California State Senate and a product of immigrant parents. Senator Hurtado represents the 14th Senate District and focuses on rural community issues that often go unheard — access to clean air and water, food insecurity and poverty, inequities in environmental policies, agriculture and access to health care. In July 2020, she was appointed to the national Biden Latino Leadership Committee alongside former Labor Secretary and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis – the only two California Latinas on the Committee.

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