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<br />agreement on the Key Terms for a Quantification Settlement Agreement. The attorneys for the <br />districts then worked on drafting the numerous legal agreements that were necessary to <br />implement the Key Terms and consultants began working on the required environmental review <br />and permitting documents. Initial drafts of the legal agreements were released for public review <br />in October 2000, and most ofthe agreements were finalized in June 2001. <br /> <br />Why the current process failed <br />The results of the environmental review process, as well as the provisions of SB 482 passed <br />last session, required a restructuring of certain components of the QSA to address transfer-related <br />impacts to fully protected and endangered species at the Salton Sea during the first 15 years that <br />the QSA would be in effect by avoiding material increases in the projected salinity levels of the <br />Salton Sea. Speaker Emeritus Robert Hertzberg led the mediation process by which the parties <br />agreed to a term sheet for a revised QSA that was announced at La Quinta on October 16, 2002. <br /> <br />Coachella's negotiating team presented the La Quinta Term Sheet to Coachella's Board of <br />Directors, which approved its use to prepare the final documents for a revised Quantification <br />Settlement Agreement on October 22. <br /> <br />Attorneys for Coachella, Metropolitan, San Diego and Imperial then prepared and exchanged <br />revised drafts of the legal agreements to implement the La Quinta Term Sheet and consultants <br />worked nearly around the clock to prepare addenda to the environmental documents. Attorneys <br />and negotiators for the United States, Metropolitan, Imperial, Coachella and the San Luis Rey <br />Indian Water Rights Settlement Parties also worked toward completing the negotiations on the <br />Allocation Agreement regarding the water to be conserved by the All-American and Coachella <br />Canal lining projects. <br /> <br />On December 10th Coachella's Board of Directors approved the addendum to the QSA <br />Program EIR, as did Metropolitan's Board of Directors. However, the previous night, lID's <br />board refused to approve that same addendum because of dissatisfaction with the terms of the <br />revised QSA. <br /> <br />On December 15-17, negotiators from San Diego, Coachella and Metropolitan met in Las <br />Vegas with officials from the Department of Interior and representatives from the other Colorado <br />River Basin states to explore the viability of concepts that might address concerns expressed by <br /> <br />3 <br />