Assemblyman addresses water issues

Teresa Wilson

Managing Editor

State Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, a proponent for additional dams like Shasta and Oroville, said there is a foreboding reminder we are not doing something long-term to conserve our water resources.

“We are enjoying the fruits of that now,” he said. Although a long-term solution is required to ensure we have the water resources we need in the future.

LaMalfa, R-Richvale, shared his comments with Shasta College journalism students attending the 11th annual Governmental Affairs Day held in Sacramento Jan. 31.

More than 200 newspaper editors and publishers from throughout the state earlier in the day brought their questions to legislative leadership panels that included Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, Secretary of State Debra Bowen as well as senators and assemblymen from districts around California.

The forum was sponsored by the California Newspaper Publishers Association and the California Society of Newspaper Editors.

Attending the event allowed journalism students an opportunity in the afternoon to meet with LaMalfa and experience first-hand what professional journalists encounter during interviews with legislators.

A fourth generation rice farmer, LaMalfa and his family have strong roots in the community and a vested interest in preserving the farming economy.

LaMalfa has many issues he would like to address during his term, however, protecting water resources is at the top of his list. He shared his vision for solving water outsourcing through conservation and more above ground storage.

He mentioned successful water storage projects like the Tuscan aquifer, an underground lake three times the size of Lake Shasta that rests beneath the Sacramento Valley.

The aquifer provides “tremendous potential” and is a “tremendous resource” he said.

The aquifer has “great recharge” and is accessible to the arid regions of the Sacramento Valley as well as the dessert regions in southern California when drought conditions are prevalent.

While water is one topic, LaMalfa said the issue that he is hearing the most about from his constituents centers around health care reform and the initiative that proposes a 4 percent tax for employers.

LaMalfa said he heard from many restaurant owners about the feasibility of the proposed employer tax.

While the 4 percent rate may be good news for large corporations that pay up to 15 percent in health care coverage, the impact on small businesses may significantly drive overhead costs to an unmanageable level.

LaMalfa indicated small businesses may be driven out of the area due to the rising infrastructure costs to other states or overseas where the cost to run a business is significantly less. He mentioned northern California is initially desirable to entrepreneurs and businesses, yet the “cause and affect” of doing business in the north state in many cases causes business-minded people “to be plucked” from California to do business where manufacturing overhead is less costly.

La Malfa was recently appointed vice president to the agriculture committee and sits on the water committee as well. He also serves as the vice chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources. LaMalfa won the legislator of the year award for 2005-2006 for his work in support of Vietnam veterans.