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~ignOnSanDiego.com > News> State/The West -- California drafts agreement on Colorado... Page 1 of3 " DEPRESSED? i .com (i~ PRINTTH IS California drafts agreement on Colorado River water supply By Seth Hettena ASSOCIATED PRESS 6:17 p.m., March 12,2003 SAN DIEGO - State officials met Wednesday with the Bush administration's point man on Western water issues to present what they hoped would be an agreement to protect California's supply of Colorado River water. Negotiators for Gov. Gray Davis outlined what they called "a peace treaty" between four Southern California water agencies that share Colorado River water. After the meeting, Davis called it "a major breakthrough in addressing California's long-term water needs." Assistant Interior Secretary Bennett Raley arrived in Los Angeles Wednesday for a closed-door update on talks aimed at salvaging a Colorado River water-sharing deal. California missed a Dec. 31 deadline to sign a deal, years in the making, that was aimed at reducing the state's historic overdependence on the Colorado River. In response, Interior Secretary Gale Norton cut the amount of water California can draw from the river this year by 600,000 acre-feet, enough water for 1.2 million people. The proposed agreement, detailed in a 27-page summary, is the product of weeks of talks led by Davis' office between representatives of the four Southern California water agencies. State officials say they believe the revised agreement in principle would satisfy the Interior Department, which wants to California to live with less water from the Colorado, and would allow Norton to restore water that she cut from the state's supply. Raley said he needed time to review the proposal. He noted that it may be difficult for the Interior Department to undo the cuts to the state's supply from the drought-stricken Colorado River. The agreement announced Wednesday is contingent on the Interior Department reversing the cuts. "Sometimes it's very difficult to get the genie back in the bottle and that's what we're struggling with," he said. The centerpiece of the deal remains the annual transfer of 200,000 acre-feet from the Imperial Valley, a desert farm region that is by far the state's biggest user of Colorado River water, to San Diego for up to 75 years. Terms of the transfer have not changed over the course of negotiations. Before peace can be declared, however, the revisions to the deal must be completed within the next six months and be approved by the boards of the four water agencies, the Interior Department and the six Western states that share the Colorado River. Earlier versions of the Colorado River water-sharing deal brokered by state officials with much fanfare later collapsed. " http://signonsandiego.printthis.c1ickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&expire=&urlID=5680 111 &... 3/13/2003