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. . . Western States Water Council Executive Committee Minutes Washington, D.C. March 26, 2006 Chairman Simpson had asked staff to prepare a resolution for Bureau Commissioner John Keys to acknowledge his efforts and service in dealing with the Council. Craig raised the issue of desalination. The Council received a request to support legislation before the Congress. California has some severe reservations about providing subsidies through desal technology. Craig asked for direction on how he might respond to the request. Karl Dreher suggested bringing this issue up in the Water Resources Committee meeting. Rod Kuharich wondered to what extent they are talking about subsidizing. He noted that he and Herb Guenther have been involved in looking at the desal issue as a way to augment the flows ofthe Colorado River. There are some states that are more interested than others, certainly. Tony said that the proposed legislation would be on the municipal supply side. There is a big desal plant in Tampa, Florida, and they are getting hit with the energy costs. The proposal is that it would subsidize the energy costs at a certain mil rate. Although California has a goal of producing a million acre-feet of water by desalination, the Governor does not support (as I understand it), this sort of a subsidy. Rod Kuharich noted this may be a topic for the emerging issues group to look at. Dave Pope stated that the Water Resources Committee could put this matter on the agenda for consideration. Craig could write a letter to finesse the request by stating that desalination technology is being used across the West. One last item, Rod Kuharich mentioned that Mark Limbaugh has become personally involved in the Glen Canyon adaptive management process. It's difficult to say whether this signals more emphasis from that position on western water issues or not, but he has taken this under his wing. Mark is looking at Colorado River issues between Glen Canyon and Boulder Canyon dams. He appeared before the adaptive management workgroup meeting and said he would be involved personally. There being no other matters, the meeting was adjourned. F:\MINUTES\EXEC-06-DC. wpd 8