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<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">CALFED:<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Water agencies
could lose CALFED funds <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Lodi</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> News-Sentinel –
5/3/05<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Ross Farrow,
staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT color=#333333 size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #333333"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#333333 size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #333333">A state
legislative committee will begin hearings next week to determine how much to
trim from the budget of a multi-agency Delta water program that has been the
target of increasing criticism this year.<BR><BR>The Legislature isn't likely to
completely strip state funding for the California Federal Bay-Delta Program,
commonly known as CALFED, but state lawmakers could pare down funding
considerably for the 2005-06 fiscal year, said Bethany Westfall, a water
consultant for State Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P><!-- Begin photo div --><!--
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<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#333333 size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #333333"><!-- End photo div --><!-- Story Continues with Paragraphs 3-7 -->The
Bay-Delta water program has received nearly $3 billion in federal, state and
local funds over a four-year period beginning in 2000, including about $402
million of state Proposition 50 water funds in the past two years, according to
a CALFED report.<BR><BR>But Machado and other legislators have been highly
critical lately about CALFED, saying the program wants too much money and does
not have a detailed plan on how to spend what money it will get, Westfall
said.<BR><BR>The Senate budget subcommittee focusing on water issues, chaired by
Sen. Sheila Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, is scheduled to discuss reducing the CALFED
budget to "the fundamentals" and limiting state money to critical programs,
Westfall said. The subcommittee, meeting next Monday, will define just what "the
fundamentals" are and what constitutes a "critical" water program, Westfall
added.<BR><BR>Machado does not sit on the budget water subcommittee.<BR><BR>A
Senate committee actually "zeroed out" or completely cut CALFED's budget last
week, said CALFED spokesman Keith Coolidge. However, the Legislature may restore
some of the money it removed, he said. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P><!-- Begin Ad Div --><!-- Suspended
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<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=#333333 size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #333333">"We are four
years into what was envisioned as a 30-year project," Coolidge said. "It was
never envisioned that all the problems would be solved in four
years."<BR><BR>Coolidge said CALFED officials look at Machado's and Kuehl's
criticisms of the agency as constructive and will work with them to address
their concerns.<BR><BR>Ed Steffani, manager of the North San Joaquin Water
Conservation District, agrees with Machado's criticisms about CALFED's
operations.<BR><BR>"They've spent tons of money with very little to show,"
Steffani said. "It's one of the latest examples of failed consensus
building."<BR><BR>With 25 state and federal agencies and hundreds of water
districts and cities, CALFED is trying to balance competing water interests,
Coolidge said.<BR><BR>Steffani said trying to reach consensus among varying
water interests is a waste of time and money.<BR><BR>"I'm from the old school --
confront the enemy, and if you can't reach agreement, go to war," Steffani
said.<BR><BR>Westfall said that Machado doesn't want to gut the CALFED program,
just make it fiscally responsible with a solid spending plan.<BR><BR>"Mike is
adamant that he doesn't want to get rid of CALFED," Westfall said. "CALFED is
very important, especially to the Delta."<BR><BR>However, local agencies could
lose the chance to gain CALFED funding for local projects similar to ones the
agency has already funded.<BR><BR>The Woodbridge Irrigation District has
benefited from CALFED through a $1.6 million grant for engineering, design and
studies for environmental permits leading to the construction of the new
Woodbridge Dam that is currently under construction.<BR><BR>The <st1:place
w:st="on">North San Joaquin</st1:place> district was awarded $500,000 from
CALFED in 2000 for a demonstration groundwater recharge project, but Steffani
says he has yet to see a penny of it.<BR><BR>"I'm still screwing around trying
to get approval (from regulatory agencies)," he said.<BR><BR>Steffani said that
a reduction of CALFED funding won't affect local residents and their water
supply. He expects to get the $500,000 CALFED grant in the near future, but the
bureaucratic red tape has discouraged him from applying for more CALFED money
anyway.<BR><BR>"At the (slow) rate that CALFED was moving, I don't think it will
make any difference," Steffani said.<BR><BR>Bill Jennings, who operates Delta
Keeper, a nonprofit organization that monitors Delta water quality, criticized
CALFED for exporting Delta water to Southern California and the southern
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> at the expense of
fish and their habitat.<BR><BR>"When CALFED was established, everyone was to get
healthy together," <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Jennings</st1:place></st1:City> said. "It's little more than a
hand-maiden to the Metropolitan Water District."<BR><BR>The Metropolitan Water
District serves the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Los
Angeles</st1:place></st1:City> area.<BR><BR><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Jennings</st1:place></st1:City> said that CALFED has never studied how
water projects affect the Delta's ecosystem.<BR><BR>"Frankly, if CALFED can't
establish itself as a level playing field with a goal of protecting the fish, it
does not need to exist," <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Jennings</st1:place></st1:City> said.<BR><BR>Coolidge is confident
that CALFED will be funded in some form by the state. Once it goes through the
Senate Budget Subcommittee on Water, it must meet the approval of the full
Senate, Assembly and Governor's Office.<BR><BR>"There is a long process here,"
he said. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2005/05/03/news/8_calfed_050503.txt">http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2005/05/03/news/8_calfed_050503.txt</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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