January 09, 2006

CWP Requests Oversight Hearings for S 895 Rural Water Supply Act

January 09, 2006

To: Kiel Weaver, Staff Director, Water & Power Subcommittee
From: Oscar Braun, Executive Director, www.cwposse.org
Subject: S 895 Rural Water Supply Act of 2005

Dear Director Weaver,

Shortly before Christmas, California Watershed Posse (CWP) received a copy of your  widely broadcast FYI email regarding S 895: “ As many of you know, the Committee values the thoughts of Bureau of Reclamation water and power customers, as well as other interested parties. As such, the Committee is very interested in hearing from you on your thoughts on the NRC report and S. 895.  Specifically, tell us what's good, what's bad or what's missing on the NRC report and S. 895.”  On behalf of our 23,000 or more rural California Watershed Posse stakeholders, let me first express our appreciation to Chairmen Pombo and Radanovich for reaching out to the rural costumers who are directly impacted by the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) management, laws and policies. California Watershed Posse’s due diligence review and investigation findings regarding the 2005 Lake Berryessa Visitor Service Plan FEIS, compels us to voice our united OPPOSITION to the pending S 895 Rural Water Supply Act of 2005.
 
The CWP 2005 Lake Berryessa investigative task force findings clearly reveal that the Bureau of Reclamation has been corrupted from top to bottom by the undue influence of special interest lobbying and non-profit organizations such as the Sierra Club and billionaire Concessionaire mogul Rex Maughan, sole owner of Forever Resorts enterprises.  S895 is a sweeping expansion of bureaucratic power and funding for the Bureau of Reclamation and it is being aggressively pushed by the Chair of the U.S. Senate Resources Committee. The CWP requests that the Resources Committee and Water & Power Sub-committee convene public hearings in 2006 for the purpose of allowing rural residents and customers to voice their concerns about S 895 “prior” to any final legislative action by the House. We ask that the House of Representatives conduct Congressional hearings focusing on the history and true nature of the undue influence between federal officials, Sierra Club, Rex Maughan, rural California resident stakeholders and the Bureau of Reclamation. 

 In light of the recent revelations in the main stream media regarding the on going Abramoff congressional  lobbying  scandal, the U.S. Department of Interior  increasingly looks more like a “racketeering influenced corrupt organization” (RICO) enterprise rather than a government institution that the people can trust.  It is the Callifornia Watershed Posse’s hope, that with Chairmen Pombo and Radanovich’s leadership, we can begin to work together to bring transparency to the Bureau of Reclamation’s scandalous performance and management record. Now is the time to clean up the incompetence and corruption in the Department of Interior and protect California’s future.
 
Background:

Since 1995, the California Watershed Posse has been an active coalition member of the NOAA sponsored Water Quality Protection Program (WQPP), focusing on the 5,000 square mile Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.  The CWP  is an environmental “watch dog” organization committed to upholding the integrity of governmental institutions, reporting possible violations of the law, regulations or rules governing the conduct of government officials and employees that directly impact rural California areas.  The CWP has published many  2005 Bureau of Reclamation investigative reports in  their  newsletter The Pebble ” Voice of Rural America” ( see Pebble Archives ).  The CWP filed a Whistleblower complaint on December 20, 2005, asserting that County of San Mateo officials and employees have engaged in unlawful activities in collaboration with private non-profit organizations, including but not limited to, Sierra Club, Committee for Green Foothills, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), and Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD), collectively known as the Coastal Open Space Alliance (COSA). These unlawful activities have included nefarious schemes to acquire coastal rural farm and ranch lands at greatly reduced market values under the guise of preserving open space for the public. POST will be coming to the Congressional Resources Committees later this year for the purpose of obtaining tens of millions of public funding for the sale of their polluted landfill lands to the GGNRA.  The CWP will oppose ALL federal funding for COSA members including San Mateo County, until the final San Mateo County Whistleblower investigation findings are published.
California Watershed Posse believes that the Bureau of Reclamation at Lake Berryessa has conspired with COSA member Sierra Club and Forever Resorts to unlawfully “take” 1300 rural Californian’s private mobile homes without paying market value compensation to the mobile home owners. (Listen to Capital Public Radio “ Battle for Berryessa “ January 5, 2006 ).The CWP stands ready to provide the Resources Committee and Water and Power Sub-Committee specific evidence, including names, dates, times, places, incident details, supporting documentation, corroborating evidence and testimony upon your request. Thank you for the opportunity to participate and support the legislative oversight process of the Resources Committee and Water and Power Sub-Committees.

Happy New Year and God Bless America.
   
Below please find the CWP contact information:
Oscar Braun, Executive Director
1589 Higgins Canyon Road, Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Tel: (650) 726- 3307
Mobile: 650-867-5779
Fax: (650) 726-2799
E-mail: Oscar@cwposse.org