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<br />fire protection, and urgent agricultural critical needs). After these were met, water was <br />to be allocated to meet remaining critical needs. Provisions also were made for <br />purchases of water in excess of critical needs if surplus water was available. Specifically, <br />it was provided that any water available in excess of the critical needs of the members <br />could be purchased by the members first for "other high value uses" as determined by the <br />DWR in consultation with the Water Purchase Committee and then according to the <br />following provision: "Active members shall have a right of first refusal in amounts <br />proportional to their purchases of water for Critical Needs to purchase at the final <br />Melded Rate any unallocated water remaining in the bank after satisfying identified <br />Critical Needs and other high value uses under Article 18 ... Any excess water remaining <br />after the Active Members have exercised their right of first refusal shall be purchased by <br />the Department for the State Water Project at the final melded rate paid by all <br />Members."''' It does not appear that any provision was made for sale of water to non- <br />members. <br />While potentially an inefficient restriction on water transfers through the bank, 108 <br />the critical needs criteria may have enhanced the political acceptability of the banking <br />arrangement. In practice, such a large quantity of water was made available to the bank <br />that the critical needs restrictions had little apparent effect_part, perhaps, from <br />reducing the number of bank members. <br />Membership in the bank gave the member representation on the "Water Purchase <br />Committee" which established the price at which water was to be purchased. Each bank <br />member had one vote on the committee and all decisions were to be approved both by a <br />majority of bank members and by members that contnbuted more than 50 percent of the <br />funds deposited into the bank. <br /> <br />107 Article 22 of the Agrwnent Esulblishing a 1991 CIllifomia Drought Eme1ge1Icy Water Bank, quoted in <br />Howitt, Richard, Nancy Moore and Rodney T. Smith, 1992. A Retrospective on California's 1991 Emergency <br />Drought Water Bank, Repon prepared for the California Depanment of Water Resources, p. 9. <br /> <br />""'Wahl, Richard W., 1994. "Market Transfers of Water in California,' West-Northwest Journal of <br />Environmental Law, Polky, Thought. 1, #1: 49-69. <br /> <br />2-28 <br /> <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 />