For Immediate Release: August 24, 2022

Media Contact: Michelle.Sherwood@sen.ca.gov

SACRAMENTO, CA – Today, Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) and a number of her colleagues sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, urging him to investigate fraud and market manipulation practices that result in less water availability and possible higher water costs in Western States:

“Access to safe and affordable drinking water is not just a Central Valley issue or a California issue, it is a global issue,” said Senator Hurtado. “As water scarcity intensifies around the world, we must look beyond the traditional causes of less water availability and look towards other ways that water can be used as a weapon, for leverage, or for profiteering. We all play in role in strengthening the protections of our water systems and holding possible bad actors accountable.”
 

Senator Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) says, “Water is a basic human right. In an historic drought, our state has limited water resources to nourish our communities and support our health, agriculture, and wildlife. It is vital to our humanity and our earth that we safeguard our precious water supplies from private interests that seek to profit off water and water rights through market manipulation.”

“Despite the rising cost of living, Californians are now being asked to pay more for critical resources like water,” said Assemblywoman Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita.) “Our residents have been suffering from a water shortage for far too long, and we all deserve transparency, especially when basic needs are on the line.”

“Our state has been facing an ongoing drought for years. However, the negative impacts have continued despite efforts to curtail this emergency. These efforts to provide relief are critical, and require vetting to ensure full compliance. As Chair of the Emergency Management Committee, I see the need for further transparency and have joined my colleagues in urging the United States Department of Justice to investigate the accuracy of data collected by various consulting firms,” stated Assemblymember Rodriguez (D-Pomona.) 

Finding reliable data has become essential to making decisions surrounding water resource management, regulatory compliance, environmental impacts, ecosystem services, urban and economic development, and other issues. This data informs decisions by legislators, executives, agencies, and even, individual citizens. This data must be accurate and based on the best scientific evidence available, which leaves it potentially vulnerable to market manipulation by interested parties.

California’s water availability conditions continue to worsen, and every part of the state will be impacted. The last twenty years represent the driest period the region has faced in approximately 1,200 years. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has reported that as of March 2022 snowpack conditions in the Western United States were ten to fifteen percent below the historical median on average.

Many towns across California have faced massive water curtailments, rising water prices, and have seen their wells run dry, forcing them to jump through hoops and hurdles in order to receive just enough water to live. Safe drinking water and freshwater resources are central to the health of California’s economy and communities and is jeopardized by the increase in costs.

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 as 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.

For more information, visit Senator Hurtado’s Website here or find her on Twitter at @Senator_Hurtado

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