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C") ~ ':" ) C'J o Orh the contractors and come up wtth a rational, balanced method of accounting." "I don't think it's particularly fair that it mostly falls on Westlands," said Cynthia Koehler, senior attorney at Save the Bay, "but that's the reality of the water fights system. It is heretical to suggest it, but 'first in time, first in right' is not a sound approach to water management any more. It was a fine system in 1850. It's a ridiculous approach in 2000. It actively promotes inefficiency and waste." Legal issues surrounding implc~ mentation of the b2 clause were argued in federal court for most of 1998. A ruling by Judge Oliver Wanger just before Christmas did not fully resolve those issues. While it appears at first glance that Wanger had upheld Interior's position, a hearing with attorneys in January left many unanswered questions. (See page 6.) As drafred, Interior's recent b2 plan relies on SWP cooperation to help implement the fish protection measures. Yet within days of the plan's announcement, Gov. Davis warned Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt that the state may not cooperate. "The implementation [of the plan] cannot be accomplished without a high degree of coordination, cooperation and facilitation by the state," Davis wrote in a Nov. 6 letter. "Unless and until adequate measures are developed to substantially mitigate the impacts of this plan, I cannot commit 1:0 facilitate the current plan as presented." In his response, Babbitt said Interior had nn choice but to "adopt a more rigid accounting of 'no more and no less' than 800,000 acre-feet each year" because an earlier, more flexible plan had been rejected in federal court. "These issues demonstrate our mutual interdependence, the need [() v,'Qrk together to fairly apportion the impact of these requirements, and the importance of implementing a long~ term CALFED Program," BabbItt wrote in a Dee. 9 letter. Even as discussions between Davis and Babbitt continue, the state-federal January/February 2000 tension has shifted to Delta operations and who - or what - caused water quality to deteriorate in December. In late November, the US Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) closed the Delta Cross Channel gates to keep threatened spring~run chinook salmon out of the interior Delta, which reduced fresh water flows to export pumps in the South Delta. CVP and State Water Project (SWP) pumping, however. remained at capacity as officials worked to fill San Luis Rcservoir south of the Delta. By mid- December, the high exports and cross channel closure, combined with a lack of precipitation and high tides, resulted in the saltiest water at the export pumps since 1977 - a year of extreme drought. Even after the pumps were slowed (in large part because of b2 provisions) and the Bureau reopened the Delta Cross Channel gates to let fresher water flow into the South Delta, it was too late. Contra Costa Water District W<lS forced to draw from its Los Vaqueros Reservoir to avoid the salty water, and the supply at its Rock Slough diversion exceeded the drink- ing water salinity standard for one day. By the end of December, the situation was resolved; the cross channel gates were open and CVP and SWP pumps resumed pumping at high levels. Storms had helped improve water quality. However, Department of Water Resources (DWR) officials estimate the one month cutback cost the SWP 180,000 acre-fcct. Still a matter of dispute is whether the Bureau is required to make up any of that water and, if so, how. This crisis is one example of what Walt Wadlow, assistant general manager of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, calls an "unforeseen consequence" of the CVPIA - less flexibility to operate the system. "The Bureau's operations plan routinely targets the federal share of watet stored south of the Delta at minimal levels. I t shifts the burden to the SWP to maintain levels in San Luis Reservoir," said Wadlow, whose district south of J'.i' nB \\l ~.,,;;!!i . ;]l~ ~i .lj; "I! '\ 'i<l~. ff:i!':' 'l\l! ,j;j~ \;' ~