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State Water Project California's population doubled between 1940 and 1960. It appeared the state could not solely rely on federal or local sources to help meet future water needs. Water planners recognized the need for Delta improvements and for supplemental water to support growing southern California and prevent groundwater overdraft in the Central Valley. Additionally, the need for flood control on the Feather River was recognized. as was the San Joaquin Valley's need for an outlet for saline irrigation drainage from fields. The first California Water Plan was published in 1957. It recommended immediate construction of a Feather River project, later to become the State Water Project (SWP), as the initial unit of the plan. After years of debate and study. the State Water Resources Development Act, known as the Burns-Porter Act. was ratified by voters in 1960. Gov. Edmund G. "Pat" Brown led the effort to resolve California's Jong.standing water conflicts. He recognized, as had his predecessor Gov. Goodwin Knight, that water was crucial to the sfate's future. The Ca!!t'()rnia Aqueduct. above, as if mea11ders SOll1h along Interstate 5 near the Coast Range. The aqueduct delil'ers water 244 miles from the Delta to the city of Los Angdes. right_ 11 The works specified in the $1.75 billion bond issue included dams and reservoirs; several aqueducts, including a major conveyance system - the California Aqueduct - to carry water from the Della to south- ern California; levee improve- ments and facilities to transfer water across the Delta; the joint- use (state and federal) San Luis project; and drainage facilities for the San Joaquin Valley. Fish ...."'-....li.11 .:::::...:::,::: ........'11'1111 :..::::~::l:::: .::....111':1111 . ....UIIII.. ..::.....1.1:1111 . ....Ii't III ..::.....111::'1 ....tell II :::......11:::' ......llllll' :......Ullll:: ..........11111 ........1111111 .......n'lIll, .......hllllll .........1111' ........111111 .......IUIlI11 .......UIIlIII ........'"1111 :::::::~::m -.,......111111 .......111111 .:i mitigation facilities include the Feather River Fish Hatchery downstream from Oroville Dam and the John E. Skinner Delta Fish Facility, where fish are diverted away from Delta pumps. To date, the initial features of this huge system have been completed though no drain has been built. Today's SWP consists of 22 dams and reservoirs. Water in the upper Feather River is provided trom the project for water supply and recreation uses, where Oroville Dam forms the SWP's largest storage reservoir with a capacity of 3.5 million acre-feet. From there. water flows south to the Delta where the North and South Bay aqueducts serve communities in the southern San Francisco Bay area. The 444-mile long Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct begins at the Della Pumping Plant and parallels Interstate 5 south to the Tehachapi Mountains. To cross the Tehachapis into southern California, water is elevated at the Robert D. Edmonston Pumping Plant some 2,000 feet - more water pumped higher than anywhere else in the world. Abouf 30 percent of SWP water is used for irriga- fion. mostly in the San Joaquin Valley. Approximately 70 percent is used for residential, municipal and industrial use, mainly in southern California. The SWP is operated and managed by DWR. Twenty- nine water agencies, of which MWD is the largest. contract with DWR for project water. These contracts call for ultimate delivery of 4.2 million acre-feet a year. Because the SWP, as originally designed, has not been completed, about 3 million acre-feet of "firm yield" is provided each year. Under the terms of the SWP's $1.75 billion bond issue, users for the most part pay all costs of fhe project, including interest. SWP contractors also pay energy costs and a transmission charge based on the distance the water is transported. By contrast, the earlier constructed CVP only required repayment of the principal for its irrigation projects. Allhough SWP water is much more expensive than federal water, farm acreage limitation does not playa part in SWP development. Disputes over SWP service contracts erupted following water delivery shortages during the 1987- 1992 drought and a few SWP contractors threatened suit. Alter three months of negotiations. DWR and SWP contractors reached agreement on amend- ments to the SWP contracts in Monterey. Calif.. in December 1994. Under the Monterey Agreement signed by 26 of the 29 SWP water contractors. the signatories are allocated water based on contrac- tual entitlements in place of the amount of water