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<br />" <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />feet of mainstream water. Had the Quantification Settlement Agreement been in place on January I, <br />2003, the Coachella and Metropolitan would have received 347,000 acre-feet and 1,128,600 acre- feet, <br />respectively. <br /> <br />Yuma Area Operations and Issues <br /> <br />During the past several Board meetings, the topic of Reclamation ' s report to Congress regarding <br />"Modifications to Projects of Title I of the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act (p.L. 93-320, As <br />Amended, 43 U.S.c. S 1571)" and managing the high ground water levels in the Yuma area have been <br />discussed. On April 25th, a meeting among representatives of the Lower Division states was held to <br />further these discussions. During the meeting, because of the concern of a numb;:r of the Basin states <br />regarding release of this report, it was the consensus of the Lower Division states that the Report should <br />not be forwarded to Congress at this time. Also, because of the need to conserve the water available <br />for use in the Lower Basin and to reduce the draw down of storage in Lake Mead, it was concluded that <br />it would be prudent to support funding necessary to move toward start-up of the Yuma Desalting Plant <br />It was further decided that this group, along with participation by the others in the Lower Basin, as well <br />as the Upper Basin states, should continue to work on these issues to obtain consensus on acceptable <br />programs for managing water in the Yuma area as it relates to operation of the Yuma Desalting Plant <br /> <br />California's Colorado River Water Use Plan <br /> <br />Status of Senate Bill 317 (Kuehl) <br /> <br />On February 19,2003, State Senator Kuehl introduced S.B. 317 which addresses various <br />sections of the California Fish and Game Code related to "fully protected" species, and the California <br />Water Code related to the Salton Sea. <br /> <br />The proposed legislation makes legislative findings concerning the Salton Sea and the <br />Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA). Additionally, the legislation provides the California <br />Department of Fish Game with the authority to provide incidental take authorization for species <br />currently classified as "fully protected." <br /> <br />Major provisions of the proposed legislation include the following: (1) Provides $50 million <br />to assist in the implementation of restoration activities and the preferred alternative related to <br />implementation of the QSA, and QSA-related activities; (2) Amends the California Fish and Game <br />Code to provide incidental take authorization for fully protected species potentially affected by QSA- <br />related activities; (3) Proclaims that restoration of the Salton Sea is in the State and national interest; <br />(4) Provides for execution of the QSA to be extended indefinitely; (5) Requires that implementation of <br />the QSA will not materially increase the salinity ofthe Salton Sea, or foreclose Salton Sea reclamation <br />activities; (6) Provides for the Secretary of Resources to develop a Memorandum of Understanding <br />between the Resources Agency, Governor, and Secretary of the Department of the Interior for the <br />purpose of developing alternatives to meet the objectives of the Salton Sea Reclamation Act of 1998 <br />(P.L 105-372); (7) provides for the Secretary of Resources to establish an advisory committee and for <br />the Resources Agency to consult with the Advisory Committee while developing Salton Sea <br /> <br />4 <br /> <br />..~ <br />