90 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. Just out of curiosity, when you have these dis- 

 cussions, who is it with? Is it with Mr. Patterson, with the Sac- 

 ramento office, or is it Denver? Who do you talk to? 



Mr. SOMACH. I have had conversations on this specific issue my- 

 self with Mr. Patterson. I have had conversations with Mr. Patter- 

 son and Mr. Fazio together. We have articulated this point. I have 

 had conversations with the Assistant Secretary at the time, Rieke. 

 I have had conversations on this issue with Commissioner Begird; 

 I have had this conversation everywhere, anywhere I can think of 

 to raise the issue. 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. So you pretty well feel that you have exhausted 

 your administrative remedies as far as that goes? 



Mr. SOMACH. We do feel that way and because some of the issues 

 that are implicated with respect to what we are talking about will 

 trigger soon, certainly in 1997. Unless we get some legislative clari- 

 fication on this issue, we will undoubtedly seek some litigated clari- 

 fication on the point. 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. OK. Thank you. Mr. Miller is recognized. 



Mr. Miller. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the panel, 

 and, Mr. Thomas, I just want to thank you for your testimony. I 

 think that during the debate over the CVPIA the commercial fish- 

 ermen and the sport fishermen for the first time demonstrated to 

 many people that other users of this water were small businesses 

 and people and families who were reliant on the byproduct of the 

 water, if you will, and that is the fisheries. 



And the ability to rehabilitate these fisheries is about the eco- 

 nomics of a lot of families on the north coast and in the San Fran- 

 cisco Bay area that are dependent upon other users, whether they 

 are sportsmen or whether it is the commercial taking of some of 

 these fish. 



And I think that is an important part to keep in mind because 

 very often the suggestion is that the rehabilitation of the delta or 

 of the Trinity or of the Sacramento River or these other assets of 

 our state that somehow that is just sort of an abstract, passive en- 

 vironmental issue when, in fact, it is a very dynamic operation that 

 a lot of other people depend upon. And you can relay that all the 

 way to the tourist industry and the health of San Francisco Bay 

 that is utilized. 



I can remember as a kid when you could smell it before you could 

 see it, and we have put a lot of money into rehabilitating that, and 

 water obviously as we have learned more and more from the 

 sciences is becoming the key important part of that rehabilitation. 

 So I want to thank you and thank the other witnesses for their tes- 

 timony. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. Thank you. Mr. Radanovich is recognized. 



Mr. Radanovich. I just want to thank the panel members and 

 state that I have no questions. 



Mr. DOOLITTLE. OK. Thank you. Mr. Dooley. 



Mr. Dooley. Yes. I was kind of interested and we had some dis- 

 cussion earlier today, Mr. Thomas, this relates to the increased 

 salmon catch off the Pacific Coast. I have an aunt and uncle that 

 live in Morro Bay, and they are talking about the same thing. 

 What do you attribute that to? I mean, as I understand, it takes 

 how many years before you catch a salmon of that size? 



