Records on the Central Valley Project

The materials in FOIA 1999-0551-F are a selective, not necessarily all inclusive, body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related materials. FOIA 1999-0551-F concerns The Central Valley Project which provided twenty percent of water to California. The water originated in the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Tulare Rivers and was primarily sold to Central Valley farmers in some twenty-nine counties. The issue came to the fore in the Bush Administration over H.R. 429, the Reclamation Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act, more 1999-0551-F 1 commonly known as the Water Reform Act. Title 34 of this act dealt specifically with the Central Valley Project and provided that surplus water could be diverted from agricultural use to meet the growing residential and industrial demands for water in California. The administration was heavily lobbied over H.R. 429 (as it affected seventeen Western states in addition to California) especially by large scale agricultural interests in California as well as by members of Congress whose interests were threatened or bolstered by the act. Environmental groups also lobbied the administration regarding the Central Valley Project and the Water Reform Act. After initially threatening a veto, President Bush signed a compromise bill in October 1992. This FOIA consists of letters, memoranda, and news clippings documenting primarily public concern over the Central Valley Project. A number of the letters are from agricultural interests. Memoranda document internal Administration decision-making regarding H.R. 429. News clippings provide information about editorial opinion concerning the Central Valley Project and H.R. 429. Read less