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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:7.5pt;background:white'><b><font size=4
color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>Editorial:<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:7.5pt;background:white'><b><font size=4
color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>River settlement closer<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:7.5pt;background:white'><b><font size=4
color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>Congressional OK would be hard to swallow for ag,
but it's necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-right:7.5pt;background:white'><st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><font size=4 color=black face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Fresno</span></font></b></st1:City></st1:place><b><font
size=4 color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:black;font-weight:bold'> Bee – 11/12/08<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The 20-year
struggle to resolve the question of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
restoration may be nearing the finish line. Federal legislation essential to
the effort appears headed for a vote, either in the lame-duck session of
Congress now under way, or by the new Congress early next year. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>It's not a
solution that pleases everyone, but it is in everyone's best interests to
settle this issue and move on. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The
legislation grew out of a settlement of a case brought by environmentalists in
1988. The suit charged that construction of Friant Dam illegally diverted water
needed to maintain historic salmon runs in the river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>Farmers and
water agencies in the Valley reached a settlement in the case that will reduce
water for farming as it restores the flow of the river in an effort to bring
the salmon back. But they feared they might lose even more if the case ended up
being decided by a judge. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The
settlement requires federal approval and funding. The money was the hang-up
over the past two years, as many in Congress balked over the $250 million price
tag. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>Democratic
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who sponsored the Senate version of the legislation and
worked to sort out the knotty details, rewrote the bill to provide $88 million
in guaranteed river restoration funding. That helped break the logjam, but it
means the balance of restoration funds must be sought in future years. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>This has been
a difficult two-decade passage. It might have saved everyone a great deal of
costly litigation if Friant Dam hadn't been built and water diverted from the
river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>But then a
multibillion-dollar agricultural economy wouldn't have grown up and down the
east side of the Valley. Dozens of small communities rely on the farms that are
supplied by water from behind Friant Dam, and there are plenty of anxieties
about what will happen if that water is restored to the river. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>In this case
the law was clearly on the side of the environmentalists, and there was every
indication that the courts would have ordered even more water restored to the
river if the case had proceeded. It is galling to many in agriculture, but the
settlement is almost certainly the best deal they could get. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>The
restoration bill has bipartisan support in Congress, in addition to Feinstein,
from Reps. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and Dennis
Cardoza, D-Merced, although Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, who represents much of
the Valley's east side, has been a persistent foe. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='background:white'><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>It may not
feel that good, but it's better than the alternative.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron Leydecker, JCT</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='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=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='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=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a>
(secondary)</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a href="http://fotr.org">http://fotr.org</a>
</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"></a> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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