32 



nia's water issues around the Bay-Delta Accord which was signed 

 last December. 



The Administration believes that reopening the CVPIA — ^that is, 

 revisiting who gets how much water, for what purpose, at what 

 price, and under what conditions — will only lead to a return of 

 gridlock in California's water policies. We view the CVPIA as an 

 important initiative by Congress which in tandem with the Bay- 

 Delta Accord is bringing back a needed balance and certainty to 

 the water picture. For the first time in history, under the CVPIA, 

 all the stakeholders are working together to address California's 

 water needs. 



At this point, we urge the Congress to give the CVPIA the oppor- 

 tunity to meet the objectives that the Congress established less 

 than three years ago. Thank you for this opportunity to testify, and 

 I would be happy to answer any questions either now or later. 



[Statement of Mr. Beard may be found at end of hearing.] 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. Thank you. I think what we would like to do is 

 go through the members of the first panel, and then each of us will 

 have a chance to address questions to any member of the panel. I 

 would like to recognize Mr. Timothy H. Quinn. 



STATEMENT OF TIMOTHY H. QUINN, DEPUTY GENERAL MAN- 

 AGER, METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT OF SOUTHERN 

 CALIFORNIA 



Mr. Quinn, Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the commit- 

 tee. My name is Timothy Quinn. I am Deputy General Manager at 

 the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Today, Bob 

 Smith and I are going to summarize for you a statement of a uni- 

 fied Urban Coalition that represents water suppliers in northern 

 and southern California. We collectively provide the water needs 

 for more than two-thirds of the state's population and economy. 



And both Bob and I would like to recognize the presence of Laura 

 King representing East Bay Municipal Utility District who is here 

 today, and Laura and her agency were also instrumental in putting 

 together this Urban Coalition position. 



In addition to passing on some specific observations that are of 

 particular concern to urban California, we would like to leave the 

 committee with two general observations. The first and foremost is 

 that while we recognize that there is a need for change in CVPIA 

 implementation, our central guidepost is that we must protect the 

 basic goals and objectives of the 1992 Act. 



Metropolitan and many other urban agencies in the Urban Coali- 

 tion supported the Act. We agreed with its objectives. We agree 

 with them still. And we believe that any change must be done con- 

 sistent with the original objectives of the 1992 Act. 



Second general observation — that after three years of experience 

 in which we have been heavily involved as north and south urban 

 agencies, we do believe that both legislative and administrative 

 change is required for the most effective implementation of this im- 

 portant piece of legislation. As a general rule, our advice to this 

 committee and to the Congress is to rely on administrative relief 

 when administrative relief can get the job done. 



As to our specific concerns, I will touch on a few, and Bob Smith 

 will cover a few as well. First, and maybe most important, to the 



