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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />2.2.2 The 1991 Bank <br />At the beginning of 1991, state policy makers viewed the situation as an <br />emergency and began considering options for reallocating water to mitigate the impacts <br />of the drought. At the end of January, the State Water Resources Control Board <br />(SWRCB) held hearings on a variety of proposals to mandate reallocation of water <br />through temporary regulatory modifications of existing water rights. This regulatory <br />approach was not pursued. Instead, the Board accepted the recommendations of <br />Governor Wilson's Drought Action Task Force. On February 15, the Governor <br />announced a drought plan calling for the establishment of an Emergency Drought Water <br />Bank to acquire water from willing sellers to meet the "critical water needs" of the <br />purchasers as defined by the rules of the bank. <br />Responsibility for management of the bank was given to the DWR, which already <br />possessed the considerable technical expertise needed to assure that the water purchased <br />was both legally and physically available. As manager of the SWP, the DWR was also <br />uniquely situated to make efficient use of SWP storage and conveyance facilities to move <br />the water to buyers in the central and southern parts of the state. Since most of the <br />water was sold from agricultural users in northern California to parties south of the <br />Sacramentol San Joaquin Delta, coordination of the timing of banked water availability, <br />pumping operations and Delta outflow requirements were important concerns. DWR <br />used storage facilities both north and south of the .Delta to rearrange the timing of water <br />availability to meet purchasers' requests while minimizing environmental damages at the <br />Delta pumps. The availability of stored water in SWP northern California reservoirs <br />allowed water bank deliveries to be made out of San Luis Reservoir (south of the Delta) <br />during the early and mid summer. Water left in the Sacramento River during that period <br />as a result of water bank purchases was used to meet both exports from the Delta and <br />Delta outflow requirements. See Table 2.21 for information on the timing of water <br />availability to the 1991 Bank, water use from the bank, and associated changes in storage <br />in SWP and CVP reservoirs. <br /> <br />2-25 <br />