Water Management Symposium 1994 Report

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to be addressed. First, he inquired what kind of recommendations should come out of these discussions. regarding, in particular, how state resource agencies should work together and fund their programs, and what proactive approaches should be taken. Second, he asked how best to address the sometimes arbitrary process by which the ESA is implemented, identifying the lack of consultation with state agencies and FACA's limitations on state involvement. Third, he questioned whether the ESA should be amended, or whether the new policy initiatives will adequately address states' concerns. Following Mr. DuMars' summary of issues, the attendees developed a list of problems which they believe need to be addressed to resolve problems with ESA implementation. About thirty issues emerged from the group discussion which were typed and distributed to participants the following day for consideration during the remainder of the proceedings. (See List of Problems). E. Case Studies The participants spent the next morning listening to a number of case studies on ESA management. The first presentations focused on intrastate issues involving effects primarily in intrastate -- within a state's borders. i. Intrastate ESA Issues Gerald Johns, Assistant Chief of the Division of Water Rights for the California State Water . Resources Control Board, addressed the Bay/ Delta situation, stating that 40% of California's surface area is Bay/Delta watershed. He said that, as of 1993, over one million acre feet of water were impacted by the ESA in California. Problems he identified include the science involved in recovering species, difficulties with modeling the life cycle of species, and with extrapolations from other species. Time lags and differences between policy and operational standards are also problems. He suggested that proactive approaches are best, that water development is possible while meeting ESA goals. He stated that listings packages offer a good alternative to the single - species ESA management of previous decades, and that partnerships between regulators and regulated parties are needed to find workable solutions. He said that the unstable water supply brought on by ESA management does not best serve the water community, but acknowledged that shortsightedness and preservation of the status quo got California into the problems it has. He suggested that states should retain authority and control over water use, and consider use of the public trust doctrine, instead of relinquishing their authority to federal control. Mark Jordan, Director of the Water Policy Division of the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, and Larry McKinney, Director of the Resource Protection branch of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, next described the Edwards Aquifer in Texas and the impacts of ESA management upon it. They presented a film describing the aquifer and its management. Mark Jordan described the doctrine of the rule of capture for underground aquifers adopted early this century, and how the lack of state management under that doctrine has been a source of controversy for years. Edwards Aquifer has been designated a sole source aquifer by the EPA. 0 0