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right set of circumstances, clearly after Met has done some rebuild- 

 ing, if you will, of good will with the community. 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. OK. Mr. Farr is recognized. And I will just note 

 then we should be concluded with this panel, and then Mr. Riggs, 

 whose written statement was admitted, is going to testify, and we 

 will have him go after Mr. Farr completes his questioning. 



Mr. Farr. We should bring in Mr. Roger Thomas of the Golden 

 Gate Fishermen's Association. I wanted to follow up on something 

 that Mr. Kerry said, and he was indicating the flyway and the fact 

 that the water allocations was really dependent on something that 

 was out of the control of — which was the essentially migratory bird 

 population. 



It seems to me that it just shows how complex this whole issue 

 is; how you supply enough environment for a migratory bird pat- 

 tern that is dependent on conditions totally unrelated to the migra- 

 tory birds. Isn't there more of a science that you need to have than 

 just a percentage of water allocation? Do we have enough sophis- 

 tication with knowing the migratory bird patterns to know when 

 those flocks are going to be large or when they are going to be 

 small? Just like dry years and wet years, are there big years and 

 lean years? 



Mr. Kerry. Yes. For instance, this year looks like a banner year 

 for waterfowl. There will be a lot of birds comJng down. 



Mr. Farr. When there is a lot of water there is a lot of birds? 



Mr. Kerry. No, not necessarily. 



Mr. Farr. Is it the opposite? When there is no water there is a 

 lot of birds? 



Mr. Kerry. Oh, yes. You could have great conditions in Canada 

 let us say, and most of our birds come from Canada. And you could 

 have very poor conditions here, and you would have a lot of birds 

 coming on no water. 



Mr. Farr. Do we know enough science — I don't know if you are 

 the one to answer that — maybe Fish and Wildlife would know — ^but 

 is there enough science where we could — I am only saying this be- 

 cause all the weather data in the world is collected in Monterey at 

 the Fleet Numerical Weather Station. 



It has got a Cray computer in there. It is incredible how they can 

 now micromsmage the weather data where they can really tell you 

 down to, you know, and we ought to be using that data for, you 

 know, civilian uses. And it seems to me that perhaps our collective 

 science knowledge would allow us to also play a role here, and 

 what all of this discussion is about is how do you have enough 

 water to do what you want to do? 



Mr. Kerry. Well, migratory birds, especially ducks and geese, 

 are the most monitored animal that there is, and so we know when 

 there is a good year. Like, for instance, your seasons are going to 

 be set probably sometime in August. They have predictions of popu- 

 lations already. But what I am saying is, yes, we will know when 

 you are going to have banner years for wetlands. 



Mr. Farr. Well, aren't you suggesting in that that there is a 

 more sophisticated way of determining what your water needs are 

 than just an allocation formula? 



Mr. Kerry. Yes. 



