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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/"><span style='text-decoration:
none'><img border=0 width=150 height=21 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C751A6.47B4F110" alt="San Francisco Chronicle"></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b><font size=6
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:24.0pt'><!-- dont write <hr /> here -->CALIFORNIA</span></font></b></st1:place></st1:State><o:p></o:p></h1>
<h2><b><font size=5 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:18.0pt'>U.S.-valley
plan on water issues<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h2>
<p class=byline><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:glenmartin@sfchronicle.com">Glen Martin, Chronicle
Environment Writer</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Friday,
February 16, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
federal government would transfer ownership of one of <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>'s
largest reservoirs to the state and local water agencies and require <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> farmers to oversee the costly
cleanup of toxic agricultural drain water, under a draft plan released
Thursday. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Federal
and regional water officials said their proposal could help settle two of the
state's most pressing water issues: Distribution of government project water
and the disposal of tainted farm runoff that has been blamed for deformities
and deaths of thousands of birds since the 1980s. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The plan
-- subject to extensive environmental review and congressional approval before
it could be adopted -- also would settle a lawsuit by valley farmers alleging
that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation failed to provide a solution to the
disposal of agricultural drain water contaminated with selenium. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Critics
say the proposal would put control of a huge block of the state's water in the
hands of a few regional districts, threatening the equitable flow of water
during shortages. Some environmentalists and lawmakers were wary of the
transfer of the massive San Luis Reservoir to the state and six water districts
and putting cleanup plans in the hands of private agricultural interests. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"This
is something you want to go over with a fine-tooth comb," said Rep. George
Miller, D-Martinez. "Here you have a major asset (the San Luis Reservoir)
that's under federal control and regulation for good reasons, and you're
opening it up to some degree of privatization. It looks like they're trying to
bootstrap simple water contracts into some other form of water rights." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Partners
to the proposal say it could help solve conflicts over <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s water distribution woes and
result in a drain-water solution. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Farmers
in drainage-impaired areas would receive less water than they do now --
deliveries would be capped at 1 million acre-feet annually, instead of the
current cap of 1.4 million acre-feet. An acre-foot is equivalent to 326,000
gallons of water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"That
would provide a new 400,000 acre-foot pot of water that could be used for
things other than irrigation, such as environmental flows (through the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta) or as a reserve in upstream
reservoirs," said Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tom
Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District -- at 600,000
acres, it is the nation's largest irrigation district -- said the proposal
allows irrigators greater flexibility. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The
federal government would forgo $490 million from water contractors in
compensation for construction of the Central Valley Project, the vast system of
dams, canals and pipes that delivers water from the north to the south. <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Birmingham</st1:place></st1:City> said the money
that water districts would otherwise have to pay for the cost of water projects
would go toward implementing a drainage solution. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>He said
the proposal does not promote privatization, because water districts are public
agencies, not private stakeholders. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Environmentalists
also questioned whether valley water districts will be able to implement a
satisfactory solution to the valley's drain water problem. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The
drainage cleanup cost estimates run as high as $3 billion," said <st1:PersonName
w:st="on">Byron Leydecker</st1:PersonName>, chairman of Friends of the Trinity
River, which has battled San Joaquin farmers over transfers of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place> water. "They (the irrigators) aren't
going to pay that kind of money." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Birmingham</span></font></st1:place></st1:City> said
the proposal focuses on an "in valley" drainage solution that would
dispose of the water by a variety of means, including reusing it to irrigate
crops and sprinkling it on gravel-topped beds to hasten evaporation. He said
the plan would not include evaporation ponds, which have been opposed by
environmentalists because they attract birds. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Tom
Stokely, a spokesman for the California Water Impact Network, a group that
favors retiring croplands high in selenium from agricultural production, said
he is leery of the proposal. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"The
good news is that this won't happen overnight," Stokely said. "It's
going to require full environmental review, federal legislation and action by
the state Water Resources Control Board. If the devil is in the details, we'll
find him." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</span>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=2 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place>, Chair</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>California Trout,Inc., Advisor</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address tabIndex="0"
style="BACKGROUND-POSITION: left bottom; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(res://ietag.dll/#34/#1001); BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-x"
w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font size=2 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font size=2
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>, <st1:State
w:st="on">CA</st1:State> <st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=2 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><em><i><font face="Times New Roman">bwl3@comcast.net</font></i></em></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><em><i><font face="Times New Roman">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</font></i></em></a></span></font></i><em><i><font
size=2 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
color:blue'> </span></font></i></em><em><i><font size=2 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></font></i></em><i><font
size=2 color=blue><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=2 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://</span></font></u></i></em><i><font
size=2 color=blue><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><a
href="http://www.fotr.org"><em><i><font face="Times New Roman">www.fotr.org</font></i></em></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=2 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue'>http://</span></font></u></i></em><i><font
size=2 color=blue><span style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><a
href="http://www.caltrout.org"><em><i><font face="Times New Roman">www.caltrout.org</font></i></em></a></span></font></i><i><font
size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:blue;font-style:italic'> </span></font></i><i><font size=2 color=blue><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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