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. . written proposals for discussion. The proposals should address one or all of the following six questions that the Senator's believe frame the nation's most pressing water challenges: (I) Water Supply and Resources Management and Coordination; (2) Role ofthe Bureau of Reclamation in the 21 st Century; (3) Indian and Federal Reserved Water Rights; (4) Conservation and Technological Developments; (5) Knowledge of Water Resources; and (6) Drought. A SWSI related proposal was submitted and it is attached for your information. Mexico, US Reach Agreement on Water Debt: Mexico will transfer water to the U.S. to end a long- standing feud that led U.S. fanners to sue Mexico for failing to comply with a water treaty. The agreement will end a 12-year-old dispute that has affected Texas fanners over 733,000 acre-feet of water that Mexico owes under a 1944 treaty. Under the agreement, Mexico agreed to deliver 578,000 acre-feet of water to the U.S. and the will credit Mexico with 154,846 acre-feet by Sept. 30 and deliver 470,000 acre-feet a year over the next three years to keep current with the 1944 treaty. The 1944 water-sharing treaty requires Mexico to send the United States an average of350,000 acre-feet of water annually from six Rio Grande tributaries. The U.S. in return must send Mexico 1.5 million acre- feet from the Colorado River. Abundant rains in 2003 and 2004 largely replenished South Texas' two Rio Grande reservoirs and allowed Mexico to reduce its water debt from 1.5 million acre-feet to less than 800,000 acre-feet. . A group of Rio Grande Valley irrigators and fanners sued Mexico under the North American Free Trade Agreement signed by Canada, Mexico and the U.S. They are seeking $500 million for crop loss and damages they say were caused by Mexico failing to comply with the treaty. Texas and federal officials pressed the Bush administration to make the debt a national priority. New EP A Administrator: President Bush has nominated Acting EP A Administrator Steve Johnson to be the first career EP A employee to head the agency. Johnson has worked at the EP A for 24 years. He would be the first professional scientist to lead the agency. Bush said Johnson was an expert on pesticides and helped design new regulations to improve food safety and will lead federal efforts to ensure the security of drinking water supplies. Johnson, who turns 54 this month, said he would carry out an environmental agenda "while maintaining our nation's economic competitiveness." Supremes Weigh Water Rights: Individual San Joaquin Valley farmers had their day in the U.S. Supreme Court as Justices heard arguments that they should be allowed to sue the federal government for undelivered irrigation water. However, because the irrigation districts they belong to have settled their suits against the government, the farmers require judicial approval to sue on their own. One estimate indicates that they could be owed $32 million because the U.S. breached the irrigation contract to cut irrigation deliveries to preserve endangered species. Under the 1992 Central Valley Proj ect Improvement Act, more than 1 million acre-feet of water was diverted away from fanns. Water districts sued, but in 1995 WestIands, the largest district, dropped its lawsuit as part of the newly adopted Cal-Fed program emphasizing state and federal collaboration on solving water problems. Although the federal government is customarily immune from lawsuits, the 1982 Reclamation Reform Act permitted suits over water contracts. The legal question facing the court Wednesday was whether the individual fanners could be considered "intended third-party beneficiaries" of the WestIands water contract. . Environmentalists Sue Over New Forest Rules: Environmentalists have sued the Bush administration over the new Forest Service rules. The rules were issued in December and give managers more discretion to approve projects without lengthy environmental reviews. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in 5 ,~