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<br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />SB 411 <br /> <br />On February 20,2003, State Senator Ducheny introduced S.B. 411 which appropriates an <br />unspecified amount of bond funds to the Resources Agency to finance restoration activities at the <br />Salton Sea or the lower Colorado River, or to assist in the development of a natural community <br />conservation plan. <br /> <br />SB 623 <br /> <br />On February 21, 2003, State Senator Ducheny introduced S.B. 623, which amends existing <br />law. Existing law requires the Secretary of the Resources Agency to enter into a memorandum of <br />understanding between the Secretary of the Interior, the Salton Sea Authority, and the Governor, for <br />the purposes of developing, selecting, and implementing alternatives for projects that realize the <br />objectives of the Salton Sea Reclamation Act of 1998, and prepare a final report on or before January <br />1,2007. This bill would change the date of that final report to January I, 200S. <br /> <br />SB994 <br /> <br />On February 21, 2003, State Senator Hollingsworth introduced S.B. 994 establishing the <br />Imperial Valley Water Quality Protection Account in the State Treasury. <br /> <br />The proposed legislation would require the Department of Water Resources, upon <br />appropriation by the Legislature, to expend the funds from the account only to acquire water to <br />prevent a material increase in salinity of the Salton Sea. The bill authorizes the department to <br />receive funds from public and private sources for deposit into the account. The department would <br />be allowed to expend these funds in proportion to the amount of water transferred in accordance with <br />the terms of the Quantification Settlement Agreement. <br /> <br />Imperial Irrigation District vs. United States of America; Gale Norton. et al. <br /> <br />On March 18, 2002, U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan issued a preliminary <br />injunction blocking a decision by Interior Secretary Gale Norton from reducing Imperiallrrigation <br />District's allocation of Colorado River water. Judge Whelan's order does not affect Secretary <br />Norton's decision to limit the total amount of Colorado River water, but Judge Whelan found that <br />Secretary Norton failed to follow procedure and breached the 1931 Seven Party Agreement when <br />she cut lID's water order and redistributed it to the CoacheUa Valley Water District and MWD. <br /> <br />In rendering his opinion, Judge Whelan stated that the issue of how efficiently water is used <br />by farmers in the Imperial Valley was a major issue raised by attorneys for the federal government, <br />CVWD, and MWD. He indicated that this issue of usage should be challenged under federal <br />guidelines, or 43 Code of Federal Regulation, Part 417. As I understand, settlement discussions <br />between aD and Reclamation are occurring in an attempt 10 settle this case. <br /> <br />8 <br />