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<br />. <br /> <br />CWCB Supplemental Statement <br />December 19, 1997 <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />Primacy of State Law: <br />One of the principles of water management as set forth on page 6-4 of the draft report is <br />"respect existing rights," which are described to include treaties, compacts, equitable <br />apportionments, water rights, and state appropriation systems. The word "respect" should be <br />clearly interpreted to mean "deference" to state water right systems for the allocation and use of <br />water. Federal water policy as set by the Congress and interpreted by the courts has used the <br />term "deference" to describe the relationship between the primacy of state allocation systems and <br />federal agency interests in western water. Based on the potential conflicts between the call for a <br />new governance and existing compact allocations and institutions, certain language in the side <br />reports, and some of the recommendations regarding land retirement, groundwater management, <br />and water conservation, the draft report is not clear in indicating whether the Commission's <br />notion of "respect" is fully equivalent to the traditional relationship of "deference". The draft <br />report should be revised to make it absolutely clear that state water law has primacy. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Importance ofTrrigated Agriculture: <br />While the Commission's recommendation to protect productive agricultural communities <br />indicates an appreciation for the important role of irrigated agriculture within state and local <br />economies, much of the rest ofthe report can be perceived as an attack on agricultural practices <br />and producers. In parts of the draft report it appears that the Commission would like to preserve <br />rural communities, but get rid of the farmers and practices that make production agriculture <br />happen. Calls for further water quality regulation on irrigation water use, reallocation of existing <br />rights to new purposes, elimination of favorable pricing mechanisms, and the repeated indication <br />that agricultural water conservation will solve our problems place too much blame for water <br />resource problems on irrigators. Irrigated agriculture operating under senior water rights is an <br />integral part of the state's social and economic fabric. <br /> <br />Rcosystem Restoration and Sustainable Use: <br />We do not agree with the characterization that western hydrologic systems are seriously <br />degraded and incapable of continued functioning without radical change and reorganization as <br />stated in the discussion beginning on page 6-15 and elsewhere in the draft report. Many of the <br />calls for sustainable use and restoration reflect changing values which are important. However, <br />they do not warrant a wholesale restructuring of state water laws, let alone interference with . <br />property rights or existing water supplies. The CWCB' s approach to preserving and protecting <br />environmental values related to riverine and riparian systems through its instream flow program <br />has been implemented within the framework of existing rights, the state's prior appropriation <br />system, and interstate compacts. Weare concerned that the wholesale changes endorsed by the <br />Commission can not and will not fit within that system, and further, that the failure to do so is <br />not recognized as an impediment by those proposing the changes. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />2 <br />