Representative TJ Cox’s Provisions to Repair the Friant-Kern Canal, Other Conveyance Facilities Pass in House Funding Bill

Last week, the House voted on, H.R. 7617, the FY 2021 Six-Bill Appropriations Minibus. This package includes the following six appropriations bills: Defense; Commerce-Justice-Science; Energy and Water Development; Financial Services and General Government; Labor-HHS-Education, and Transportation-HUD. Rep. TJ Cox (CA-21) has been fighting for Central Valley priorities, like water infrastructure. The Central Valley’s lack of access to a reliable water supply is unacceptable. As the nation’s top food producer, the Valley’s need for water infrastructure solutions is imperative for the health and well-being of all Americans. After nearly two years of determined effort, Rep. TJ Cox secured $225 million in funds to help repair the canals affected by aging or land subsidence.  Rep. Cox is making sure our taxpayer dollars return to the Valley in order to fund the programs most critical to our communities. 

Funding for conveyance facilities secured by Rep. TJ Cox includes: 

• $200 million in emergency infrastructure funding for the repair of critical Reclamation canals where conveyance capacity has been impaired by age or land subsidence – like Friant-Kern and Delta-Mendota Canals. 
• An additional $25 million address the reduction in conveyance capacity of Bureau of Reclamation canals, up $5 million more than last year. 

The Friant-Kern and Delta-Mendota Canals have lost up to 60 percent and 15 percent of their conveyance capacity, respectively. This funding provided in the House bill also includes specific funding of $71 million for the Friant-Kern and $3 million for the Delta-Mendota Canal, advocated for by Rep. TJ Cox and identical to the administration’s request. The bill would represent a major commitment to repair the federal conveyance facilities critical for delivering water to farms and communities across the arid West.  

“We all know that water is important, but to the Valley? Water is our lifeblood. Generations of Valley families have tilled the earth to produce food for the world, and yet, there is hardly enough water to keep those crops alive,” said Rep. TJ Cox. “This funding is long overdue, so I am thrilled to share that the Friant-Kern Canal will finally have an opportunity to secure much of the federal funding required to address land subsidence. With these funds, the Valley would take a major step toward greater water supply reliability.” 

Last year, Rep. TJ Cox brought Natural Resources Committee Chairman Raul Grijalva to the Central Valley to tour the Friant-Kern Canal and see the impacts of damaging land subsidence firsthand. Rep. TJ Cox subsequently introduced the Move Water Now Act, H.R. 5316, which would authorize $200 million to fix canals that have lost conveyance capacity due to land subsidence, such as the Friant-Kern Canal. Through Rep. TJ Cox’s efforts, the Move Water Now Act passed out of the Natural Resources Committee and passed the House as part of H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act.  

These funds come on top of $79 million in new funding for water storage under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. Also included in the bill is $89 million in funding for six specific projects in California that were advocated for by Rep. TJ Cox, which includes the previously mentioned specific funds for the Friant-Kern and Delta-Mendota Canals. 

Action on this bill now lies with the Senate, which must introduce and pass its version. The differences between the two bills then need to be reconciled before being enacted.