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. ...: 'f<J ~;TIRN STATES WATE October 16, 1992 ue No. 961 .':> () . "~ If[ i'r !!lr.O " 0" " ., 20 i',,^ ' '~"j .' t" . ". _ ~ '""qfo"8 \'b' TIlE WEEKLY NEWSLElTER OF TIlE WESlERN STATES WAlER COUNCIL editor - Tony Willardson Creekview plaza. Suite A-201 I 942 East 7145 So. I Midvale. Utah 84047 I (801) 561-5300 I FAX (801) 255-9642 typist - carrie curvin WATER RESOURCES Omnibus Reclamation BilVCentral Valley Project . On October 8, the Senate approved a conference committee report, earlier passed by the House, clearing H.R. 429 for the President Whether or not he will sign or pocket veto the bill is uncertain, given continuing controversy over Central Valley Project (CVP) reforms. H.R. 429 includes over 30 titles and twenty western water projects (see WSW #893). Every state in the West has a stake in the bill, but particularly California. H,R. 429 Title XXXIV adds fish and wildlife as a specific CVP purpose, and allocates 800,000 of about 7M acre-feet (AF) of CVP water for fish and wildlife in normal years, reduced by up to 25% in dryer years. However, water in excess of fish and wildlife needs may be used for irrigation, and the Secretary of Interior is charged with developing a comprehensive plan to increase CVP's yield, A broad savings clause was added applying to final judicial decrees involving CVP water rights, and the Secretary of Interior is directed to comply with California water law and the Coordinated Operating Agreement governing the federal CVP and state water projects, . The compromise extends current federal water service contracts for 25 years. upon request, and allows the Secretary of Interior to successively renew contracts for periods of up to 25 years, However, renewals will require preparation of an environmental impact statement Otherwise, contracts may only be renewed for an interim period not to exceed three years, and thereafter successive interim periods of not more than two years. The cost of preparing a programmatic EIS will be considered a capital expense. The bill allows water to be transferred off the Central Valley Project for other uses, but CVP chairman - Dave Kennedy executive director - Craig Bell contractors have a right of first refusal. No more than 20% of the water can be removed from any water district without the district's approval, and water transfers must be consistent with state law, The bill establishes a $50M fish and wildlife restoration fund, financed by surcharges on water and power. The bill imposes a $25 surcharge per acre-foot of water transferred. The bill also addresses water metering, water conservation standards and tiered pricing. The bill does not deal with other reclamation reform issues regarding interlocking land ownerships and the double benefit of subsidized water used to grow subsidized crops. Governor Pete Wilson adamantly opposes H.R. 429. As a former Senator, he once helped killed similar legislation, His successor, Senator John Seymour (R) has also done everything in his power to stop the bill. He says H.R. 429 would cost California $4.58 and tens of thousands of jobs. While he helped incorporate 22 environmental mitigation and enhancement measures in H.R. 429, he adds, 'I put people and jobs first... If you do not have a job, and you cannot feed your family, do you really care about the Delta smelt?' On the House side, 25 California representatives voted against the conference report. Many wrote other House members stating, 'We are not opposed to reforming the CVP to make it more responsive to the needs of the environment, agriculture and California's growing cities, but the Conference repon doesn't do that It seeks to solve environmental problems by severely and arbitrarily reducing CVP water deliveries to Central Valley farmers and urban areas.... If H,R. 429 were law, farms and cities in the southern pan of the Central Valley would have received no water at all from the CVP during 1990, 1991 and 1992.'