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<P><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>CalFed passes Senate; $395 million for
California water projects</STRONG></FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>Associated Press -
9/15/04</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><STRONG>By Erica Werner, staff
writer</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV>
<P><FONT size=4>WASHINGTON - The Senate passed the long-fought CalFed water bill
Wednesday, authorizing $395 million to restore California's Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and ensure a reliable water supply for millions of farmers and
residents.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The sweeping, six-year bill would enact the first major changes
to California's water systems since the 1960s. Differences with a version passed
by the House in July must still be resolved before the legislation can go to the
president for his signature.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The bill authorizes feasibility studies for several major new
storage projects, among them enlarging Los Vaqueros reservoir in Contra Costa
County and raising the Shasta Dam.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>It authorizes $90 million for ecosystem restoration programs and
contains provisions to expedite approvals of 49 recycling projects. It requires
a feasibility study for restoring the Salton Sea and includes an Environmental
Water Account to ensure water for fisheries.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>After a decade of dispute over the California Federal Bay-Delta
Program among environmentalists, farmers, residential users and others, the
passage was a victory some thought would never happen. The bill passed by
unanimous consent with no debate.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>"Passage of this legislation was a long time coming and it is
the result of hard work to reach a bipartisan consensus involving a wide range
of stakeholders," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif. and the bill's lead author,
said in a statement.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, also
cheered passage of the legislation.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>"House and Senate passage of CalFed has been sought for nearly a
decade by all of us who have a vested interest in meeting California's water
needs for the 21st century," he said in a statement.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>Aides to both Pombo and Feinstein said they were optimistic
about getting a final bill passed that can be signed by the president before the
end of the year. But a hurdle still remains.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The bill passed by the Senate on Wednesday leaves out so-called
pre-authorization language that would allow the secretary of the Interior to
approve four specific water storage projects without congressional signoff.
Congress would be given 120 days to say no but would not be asked to say yes.
Feinstein had insisted the bill could not pass the Senate with that
language.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>But some Republican House members view the language as key in
guaranteeing that the storage projects, which they view as central to a good
water bill, will happen.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>The four projects in question are the Los Vaqueros enlargement,
the Shasta Dam raise, surface storage on the Upper San Joaquin and Sites
Reservoir in the Antelope Valley. Under the Senate version of the bill,
feasibility studies are authorized for those projects.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>"Somebody's got to give," said Pombo spokesman Brian
Kennedy.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>Lawmakers will be under pressure to reach a compromise and get a
final bill to the president. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has
been involved, and Schwarzenegger wrote a letter supporting CalFed and has
raised the issue in private talks with lawmakers, said his resources secretary,
Mike Chrisman. If the legislation stalls, the administration may get more
involved, Chrisman said.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>"It's very, very important," Chrisman said. "At this stage of
the game, given where we are with CalFed, the federal government stepping up
with these kinds of dollars is very important to us completing our commitment to
all of the parties."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=4>Water agencies and business groups applauded the passage of the
bill through the Senate, but environmentalists complained it puts creating new
water storage ahead of ecosystem restoration. Nearly two dozen environmental
organizations sent a letter to Feinstein and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D.-Calif., this
week criticizing the bill.#</FONT></P></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>