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CALFED &= ~ 2m ~~c:. <.':. . . ~_ ."".~~:"J.Sd0,~,$ Mj;~'" 'H ~ . ~~~.., '~'G""ijk1i:~~.', ':.~ ,. "f _ ,;~.",%..~_-%-" ..~ ~"~ ~" ....~.-.J:lIi!'. : ~-~-'.. .~" ~~ii,~~~.; -;- ,; 5~>~:.~-@<?~ . CALFED has idellliJied wafer Trallsfers as an integral part of/he Deltaftx. 14 CALFED has developed six program elements to provide the backbone of its plan to fix the Delta. These include water use efficiency; ecosystem restoration; watershed management; levee system integrity; water quality; and, related to this guide, water transfers. - . ""!-_- CALFED's Water Transfer Program Plan highlights water transfers as one of several critical elements to "fix" the Delta. Many of the issues raised in its report echo the sentiments expressed by others about water transfers. In the plan, CALFED calls for ensuring protection of third parties by clarifying and refining rules and procedures and generally expediting the transfer approval processes. As part of its plan, CALFED suggests that by establishing a California Water Transfers Information Clearinghouse, anyone with interest in transfers could have access to accurate information about specific transfers. The hope is that such a clearinghouse would provide clarity of the rules, procedures and protocols of marketing in the state. The plan would tie together the Bureau, CALFED, DWR, the State Board and public and private contractors in a blanket network. Several components have been proposed within the structure of the clearinghouse in order to better facilitate water transfers around the state. . A real-time website in which interested parties could research through a database the details of current and past water transfers, including amount of water, duration of the transfer, how the water was made available (i.e. conservation, fallowing, etc.) as well as a detailed glossary of all water transfer terminology. In the same website, parties could work through an on.line transfer application that, based on existing laws and criteria, will identify what is necessary including what authorization needs to be obtained; what environmental studies are necessary, if any, for the transfer to take place; available capacity and wheeling costs; and upcoming water transfer related meetings and workshops of not only CALFED, but other state and federal agencies as well. CALFED hopes to have the first phase of the website operational by summer 2000. Correspondingly, CALFED also has proposed an Environmental Water Account (EWA). As envisioned, the EWA would purchase water from willing sellers and use it immediately or store it for later uses. That water would be used to supplement instream flows for the environment or provide a substitute for water needed by cities or farms when pumping must be reduced or curtailed to accommodate fish migration. Ideally, the result would provide water both for the environment and water users. The flexibility of the EWA is its strong point, allowing water to be shifted to where it is needed quickly (an important detail since the environment cannot always be predicted). CALFED points out that the EWA would not replace the in stream flow requirements for endangered fish species under the state and federal Endangered Species Act. Two reports. The Role of Water Transfers in Meeting California's Water Needs published in September 1999 by the California Legislative Analyst's Office and Water Transfers: An Evaluation of the Economic Framework and Spatial Analysis of the Potential Impacts published by the Pacific Institute in April 1998, examine the potential for and impact of water transfers. Both reports have overtones that address the CALFED water marketing strategy. The Legislative Analyst's Office report identifies a lack of information as a crucial problem that needs to be addressed in order for transfers to be expedited. The report calls for establishing a water transfer information office within the State Board (versus on a web site) in order to interconnect the agencies that review transfers; collect information about transfers; and increase public disclosure of proposed transfers, not unlike the steps proposed by CALFED. The report also highlights the needs for clarifying uncertainties over water rights and water transfer law, increasing technical expertise on the impact and mitigation of transfers, and broadening third-party protections. The Pacific Institute report focuses on the socia-eco- nomic and environmental outcomes of transfers and calls tor CALFED to, "broadly cast its net to solicit public participation from rural communities, farm workers, and historically excluded communities." The report also suggests CALFED should solicit greater public involvement in developing statewide and regional water transfers policies, negotiating and approving transfers, and developing criteria to regulate and assess the impacts of agricultural to urban transfers specifically.