35 



that the definition of reliability should reflect the economic impor- 

 tance, public interest, and cost allocation factors just discussed. 



Another key concern of the coalition is maintaining levels of 

 funding to the restoration fund in a manner sufficient to accom- 

 plish the environmental objectives of CVPIA. To the extent that 

 provisions of H.R. 1906 decrease revenues to the restoration fund 

 through elimination of tiered water rates and contract renewal sur- 

 charges, adjustments should be made to ensure revenues are re- 

 placed. 



The Urban Coalition also believes that with appropriate amend- 

 ments H.R, 1906 could provide an opportunity to increase the effec- 

 tiveness of the restoration fund by increasing the certainty of reve- 

 nues and by providing better coordination of state and Federal res- 

 toration funds and a joint state-Federal stakeholder process. 



In closing, I too want to thank the subcommittee and its staff for 

 focusing on the CVPIA implementation which is so important, not 

 only to urban water users, but to all interests with a stake in re- 

 solving the long-term Bay-Delta issues. 



As Tim mentioned, although H.R. 1906 in its present form is not 

 consistent with the principles of the Urban Coalition on amend- 

 ments of the CVPIA, we look forward to working with you and with 

 all interested parties to develop appropriate amendments that will 

 address our concerns and achieve a bill that we can all support. 

 Again, Mr. Chairman, members of the subcommittee, thank you for 

 your time, and I too will be available for any questions at the ap- 

 propriate time. 



[Statement of the Urban Coalition may be found at end of hear- 

 ing.] 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. Thank you. Our next witness is Mr. Daniel Nel- 

 son. 



STATEMENT OF DANIEL G. NELSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

 SAN LUIS & DELTA-MENDOTA WATER AUTHORITY 



Mr. Nelson. Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, 

 good morning. My name is Dan Nelson. I am the Executive Direc- 

 tor of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority. The Author- 

 ity is comprised of 31 agricultural and urban water agencies serv- 

 ing 1.3 million acres and 500,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley 

 and San Benito and Santa Clara Counties. It also delivers water 

 to about 75,000 acres of wetlands on the west side of the San Joa- 

 quin Valley. 



Since enactment of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act 

 in October of 1992, we, the customers of the CVP and others, have 

 struggled along with the Federal agencies to implement the law. At 

 the same time, our Authority has been extremely active in Bay- 

 Delta issues. Our involvement in the Bay-Delta process has helped 

 us focus on new and better approaches for implementing water pol- 

 icy and solving problems. 



We and the Bureau agree that there are many problems with the 

 implementation of CVPIA. Commissioner Beard has outlined sev- 

 eral of those problems today. Where we differ is on how to solve 

 them. Water users believe that amending the CVPIA to provide 

 certainty and clarity for all parties is the best solution. And, frank- 



