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<br /> <br />Executive Summary <br /> <br />Management of Water and Water <br />Facilities <br /> <br />Water Supply <br /> <br />The Commission recognizes that additional water <br />supplies will be needed to address growing <br />consumptive needs, environmental needs, and tribal <br />water rights. Emphasis in new supply development <br />should be given to smaller, offstream storage; to <br />more efficient storage such as conjunctive use of <br />surface and groundwater; to water recycling; and to <br />risk-sharing approaches. <br /> <br />Groundwater Management <br /> <br />State law should recognize and take account of the <br />substantial interrelation of surface water and <br />groundwater. Rights in both sources of supply <br />should be integrated, and uses should be <br />administered and managed conjunctively. The <br />Congress should require state conjunctive <br />management of groundwater and regulation of <br />withdrawals as a condition of federal financial <br />assistance for construction of new water storage <br />projects or other federally funded activities. <br /> <br />Drought Management <br /> <br />An interagency task force should be established to <br />develop an integrated national drought policy and <br />plan that emphasizes a preventive, anticipatory, risk <br />management approach to drought management and <br />promotes self-reliance. (Work has begun toward <br />this goal. A task force has recently been initiated <br />for the western United States by cooperative <br />agreement among the Department of Agriculture, <br />Department of the Interior, the Federal Emergency <br />Management Agency [FEMA], and the Western <br />Governors' Association; this task force should be <br />expanded to include other federal agencies.) <br /> <br />Water Conservation and Efficiency <br /> <br />Water conservation, or improved efficiency of use, <br />can have many benefits and should be the first <br />approach considered for extending or augmenting <br />available supplies. The Commission, therefore, <br />recommends that the Secretaries of the Interior, <br />Defense, and Agriculture should actively encourage <br />and work with users of federal project water to <br />improve project water use efficiency and onfarm <br />water use efficiencies wherever there is reasonable <br />expectation that significant public purposes might <br />be served. In these cases, the Administration should <br />provide incentives and technical and educational <br />assistance for contracting agencies and water users. <br />Many Reclamation irrigation districts have very <br />limited information on water deliveries and use, <br />making a basic calculation of system efficiency <br />difficult. Such data are prerequisite to assessing <br />feasible options for improving water management. <br /> <br />Pricing <br /> <br />For new or renewed water service contracts, federal <br />agencies should seriously consider pricing their <br />services closer to the full cost to the taxpayers of <br />providing the service and, if appropriate, promote <br />water rate structures that encourage efficient water <br />use. In considering proposals for new projects for <br />water-related services, the Congress should <br />carefully evaluate the merits of proposed financial <br />arrangements that provide water and other services <br />to project beneficiaries at less than their full cost. <br /> <br />Operation of Dams and Water Delivery <br />Systems <br /> <br />The Commission recommends that the Secretaries <br />of the Interior and Defense and the Chairman of the <br />Federal Energy Regulatory Commission be directed <br />to prepare and submit to the Congress for each of <br />the dams they manage a brief assessment of the <br /> <br />xxiii <br />