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<br />" <br /> <br />.002H6 <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Improvement District No.1. Those additional lands have been reclassified and are determined to be arable. <br /> <br />California's Colorado River Water Use Plan <br /> <br />California Senate Bill No. 17/0 <br /> <br />Included in your Board folder, is a copy of Califomia Senate Bill, SB 1710 ( _ Bond Act of <br />2002), introduced by Senator Jim Costa (D-Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Tulare) on February 21,2002. <br />SB 1710 is to add Division 30 (commencing with Section 81000) to the Water Code, relating to financing <br />a series ofprograrns. Of interest to the Board are the proposed Sections 81052 and 81053 in Chapter 7 <br />concerning the fund appropriated by the Legislature which may be "expended by 1) the Department of <br />Water Resources for grants to local public agencies for canal lining and related projects to reduce Colorado <br />River water use pursuant to the California's Colorado River Water Use Plan adopted by the Board; and 2) <br />by the Department ofFish and Game, or the Salton Sea Authority, or allocated by either entity to local <br />public agencies that possess rights to Colorado River water, for acquisition, protection, and restoration of <br />land and water resources necessary to meet state and federal regulatory requirements related to California's <br />allocation of water supplies from the Colorado River." <br /> <br />Draft Environmental/mpact Statement (EIS}for the /mplementationAgreement (IA), Inadvertent Overrun <br />and Payback Policy (lOP) <br /> <br />As reported at the February Board meeting, Reclamation has issued its draft EIS for the INIOP. <br />Public hearings were held in Blythe, California; Henderson, Nevada; and Los Angeles, California, to <br />receive written or oral comments on the draft EIS. Written comments were originally scheduled to be <br />received by March 12, 2002, however, the comment period was extended to March 26, 2002. <br /> <br />Included in the Board folder is a copy of the Board's comments on the INIOP draft EIS, dated <br />March 25, 2002. The Board supports the preferred alternative described in the draft EIS and requests the <br />timely issuance ofa Record of Decision (ROD) by Reclamation. The preferred alternative for the proposed <br />action is comprised of three major components, including the following: (I) Execution of the lA, which <br />specifies changes in the amount and/or location of deliveries of Colorado River water that are necessary <br />to implement the QSA; (2) Adoption of an inadvertent overrun and payback policy (lOP), which establishes <br />requirements for payback of inadvertent overuse of Colorado River water by Lower Basin water users; and <br />(3) Implementation of biological conservation measures to offset potential impacts frorn the proposed <br />action that could occur to federally listed fish and wildlife species, or associated critical habitats. <br /> <br />The proposed biological and conservation measures identified in the draft INIOP E1S were <br />developed in the biological opinion for the Interim Surplus Guidelines, finalized in January 2001. Finally, <br />the Board's comment letter also emphasizes that these federal actions are necessary so that California can <br />implement its Colorado River Water Use Plan and reduce its annual use of Colorado River water to its <br />basic apportionment of 4.4 maf in normal years. <br /> <br />The States of Wyoming and Colorado submitted comments on the draft EIS. In addition to specific <br />editorial comments on the draft EIS, the State of Wyoming concurred with the Board's comment on the <br /> <br />5 <br />