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<br /><::> <br />..... <br />00 <br />()l <br /> <br />STATEMENT <br /> <br />OF <br /> <br />THE METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICf OF SOU'!H.I!;RN CALIFORNIA <br />BEFORE THE COLORADO RIVER BASIN SALINITY CONTROL FORUMl <br /> <br />AUGUST 23, 1999 <br /> <br />EXECUTIVE DIRECTORBARNETI AND MEMBERS OF THE FORUM: <br /> <br />The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) appreciates the <br />opportunity to submit this statement regarding the report" 1999 Review, Water Quality Standards <br />for Salinity, Colorado River System" (1999 Review) prepared by the Colorado River Basin <br />Salinity Control Forum (Forum). Metropolitan supports the report's plan of implementation to <br />maintain the salinity concentrations at or below the numeric criteria through the year 2015. We <br />urge the adoption of the 1999 Review by each of the Colorado River Basin states. Metropolitan <br />is a public agency created in 1928 to meet supplemental water demands of those people living in <br />what is now portions of a six-county region of Southern California. Today, the region served by <br />Metropolitan includes over 16 million people living on the coastal plain between Ventura and the <br />international boundary with Mexico. It is an area larger than the State of Connecticut and, if it <br />were a separate nation, would rank in the top ten economies of the world. <br /> <br />Included in our region are more than 225 cities and unincorporated areas in the counties of Los <br />Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura. We provide more than <br />half the water consumed in our 5,200-square-mile service area. Metropolitan's water supplies <br />come from the Colorado River via the Colorado River Aqueduct and from northern California via <br />the State Water Project's (State project) California Aqueduct. <br /> <br />Introduction <br /> <br />Metropolitan supports the federal funding level recommended in the 1999 Review. It is important <br />that water source controls for salinity continue to be implemented to assist in achieving <br />Metropolitan's imported water salinity target of 500 milligrams per liter. The high salinity <br />concentration of Colorado River water results in financial impacts to residential, commercial, <br />industrial, and agricultural water users as well as groundwater and recycled water resources and <br />utility disttibution systems. It is vital that the President and Congress provide the U.S. Bureau of <br />Reclamation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management with <br />the funding necessaTY to successfully cany out their commitment to natural resources <br />conservation. <br /> <br />1 Presented by Dennis B. Underwood, Executive Assistant to the General Manager in Los Angeles. California. <br /> <br />21 <br />