Congressman Tom McClintock

I have submitted a shorter letter responding to the Chronicle's front-page article by Carolyn Lochhead ("Central Valley reps bill would upend water rights," February 17, 2012), but believe the inaccuracies and omissions in it are so stark that it deserves a more detailed reply.

I remember when we met here in Auburn in April of 2010 under imminent threat of closure, all the "experts" said that the only way to keep the Auburn Project Area lands open would be with massive federal earmarks. I am pleased to note that today's announcement is the result not of federal earmarks, but rather of re-ordering federal priorities

As I said in my opening statement, this amendment has been painstakingly negotiated and crafted over a period of eight months

We are all aware of the human and economic tragedy that occurred in California's Central Valley in 2009 and 2010 when hundreds of billions of gallons of contracted water were diverted to the ocean in the name of the Delta Smelt. This policy fallowed between a quarter million and a half million acres of some of the most productive farmland in America

This bill presents us with a simple question: "It is possible - just possible - that from time to time Congress has passed a spending bill or two that ought to have had greater scrutiny?" The answer to this question might elude some members of the House, but I assure them it is self-evident to everybody else.