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<p><span class=h09><b><font size=3 face=Arial><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Court Orders State Water Project to Cut
Water Deliveries to Protect Delta Fish </span></font></b></span><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec 14, 2007 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ --
The State Water Contractors, an association of 27 public water agencies in
the Bay Area, Central and Southern California, today reacted to the largest
court-ordered water supply reduction in California history, citing statewide
impacts to farms, businesses and people. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>Today, federal judge Oliver Wanger issued a final court
order, issuing an operational plan that orders the State Water Project (SWP)
and <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> Project (CVP), the
state's two largest water delivery systems, to reduce pumping operations by
up to nearly one-third. The two projects direct water through the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sacramento-San</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
Delta (Delta) to urban and agricultural water users. The operational plan,
formalizing a preliminary framework issued by Judge Wanger on August 31,
2007, calls for the massive reduction in water supplies to protect an
endangered fish species, the Delta smelt. The court has specified that
reduced operations will last until September 15, 2008, while federal agencies
develop a revised federal biological opinion for Delta smelt that will ensure
the projects' compliance with Endangered Species Act requirements. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>"To have such a large reduction in statewide water
supplies is not only significant, but unprecedented," said Laura King
Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors. "For the
next nine months, the backbone of the state's water system will be operated
based on a lawsuit. Reducing water supplies through the courts won't solve
the fundamental problems in the Delta. We need a smarter water system so that
the courts don't face this situation in the future." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>Local water agencies will have to rely on contingency and
emergency sources of water, including local groundwater and storage supplies,
to lessen direct impacts on their customers. However, by doing so, they will
exhaust or significantly limit supplies that would be needed for a drought or
major catastrophe, such as an earthquake, major flood event, etc. Local
agencies are particularly concerned about depleting their back up reserves
during the current drought -- 2007 has been the driest year on record for
parts of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>"We have already faced enormous challenges this year
and will undoubtedly face more in the coming year," added Moon.
"This court-ordered reduction will only place further hardship on water
agencies throughout the state and ultimately, consumers, businesses, farmers
and the economy as a whole. This is an expensive way to try to restore Delta
smelt, and likely won't succeed unless there is a comprehensive program
addressing all the stressors on this fish species." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>This significant reduction in water supply will be
experienced in the Bay Area, Central and <st1:place w:st="on">Southern
California</st1:place>. The SWP alone, a critical source of water for the
majority of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>,
provides water to two out of every three people, irrigates 750,000 acres of
prime agricultural lands and directly supports $400 million of the state's
trillion-dollar economy. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>The most immediate impacts of the court ruling will be felt
in agricultural communities as farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, Inland
Empire and San Diego region are forced to abandon crop planting this winter
and spring. Urban water users will need to conserve water during this
critical time period. In some regions, consumers may be asked for more stringent
water restrictions, including rationing, and may experience increased costs. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>Throughout the coming weeks, local public water agencies
will be assessing direct impacts of the final court order to their regions
and customers, including potential impacts on local economic growth. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>As background, a federal court ruled, in May 2007, that the
existing 2005 biological opinion for Delta smelt, issued by the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> Fish and
Wildlife Agency, did not comply with the Endangered Species Act. The
biological opinion guides pumping operations for the CVP and SWP to ensure no
long-term jeopardy to the health and habitat of Delta smelt. Until a revised
biological opinion is prepared by the federal agencies, the court has ordered
certain "remedies" or actions to protect the endangered fish
species. Those remedies, imposed in the court-ordered operational plan,
collectively amount to the cut in statewide water supply. While the court
order will last until September of next year, these kinds of reductions will
likely continue until the Delta system is fixed. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>"Every day it becomes increasingly clear that we must
decide on a solution for our broken water delivery system," added Moon.
"Moving water through the Delta is an outdated method of delivering
water to 25 million people. We need to look at ways of moving water around
the Delta to help secure the state's water future and protect the
ecosystem." <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>The Delta's failing condition has made it an increasingly
unreliable pathway for delivering water to 25 million Californians,
businesses and farms throughout the state. Aged and deteriorating levees,
climate change, mounting regulatory uncertainties such as this most recent
event and a struggling ecosystem plague the Delta more so today than ever
before. These unprecedented challenges need to be addressed responsibly and
in a timely manner in order to avoid immeasurable damages to <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>'s water
supply, environment, public health, statewide economy and infrastructure
system. <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p><b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial;
font-weight:bold'>The State Water Contractors is a non-profit association of
27 public agencies from Northern, Central and Southern California that
purchase water under contract from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">California</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
Water Project. Collectively the State Water Contractors deliver water to more
than 25 million residents throughout the state and more than 750,000 acres of
agricultural lands.</span></font></b><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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