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Metropolitan Water District of Southern California 

 Municipal Water District of Orange County 

 San Diego County Water Authority 

 Santa Clara Valley Water Distria 

 Solano County Water Agency 



Two members of the Bay-Deha Urban Coalition, the Santa Clara Valley Water 

 District and the East Bay Municipal Utility District, are Central Valley Project (CVP) water 

 contractors, and proposed reform of the CVPIA would have direct financial and water supply 

 impacts on them. Each Urban Coalition member has unique political circumstances and 

 alliances which may influence, to some degree, the formation of a common urban position. 

 For example, the Santa Clara Valley Water District is an active member of the Central Valley 

 Project Water Association, the group of agricultural contractors which initiated drafting of 

 H R. 1906 The East Bay Municipal Utility District, on the other hand, is an active member of 

 Share the Water, a major California environmental coalition currently opposed to any 

 amendment of the CVPIA. The Urban Coalition brings together urban water suppliers in both 

 northern and southern California, and includes the Metropolitan Water District of Southern 

 California, this nation's largest water wholesaler. We believe that the diverse interests of Bay- 

 Delta Urban Coalition members have enabled the Urban Coalition to provide a well-balanced 

 response to H.R. 1906. 



Three members of the Bay-Delta Urban Coalition are here today to testify: 

 Mr. Robert R Smith, Assistant General Manager of the Santa Clara Valley Water District; 

 Mr. Timothy H. Quinn, Deputy General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of 

 Southern California; and Ms. Laura King, Environmental Affairs OflBcer of the East Bay 

 Municipal Utility District. Mr. Smith and Mr. Quinn will be testifying on behalf of the Urban 

 Coalition and Ms. King is available for questions. 



Our greatest shared concern is to be able to provide a reliable water supply to 

 California's growing population and dynamic economy. The members of the Bay-Delta Urban 

 Coalition supply water to approximately 22 million people, or two-thirds of the state's 

 population. Commerce and industry in the Urban Coalition's urban service areas generate 

 over 1 1 million jobs, and over three-fourths of the state's $800 billion gross annual product 

 In fact, the California urban economies served by Urban Coalition member agencies generate 

 roughly 10% of the total economy of the United States. Much of California's urban water 

 supplies originate in the Bay-Delta watershed, and thus the Urban Coalition has an enormous 

 stake in any legislative proposal which would aflFect the federal government's responsibilities 

 and activities to resolve Bay-Delta issues. 



We believe that the surest pathway, perhaps the only pathway, to reliable urban 

 water supplies and stability in managing those water supplies, is a consensus approach. The 

 Bay-Delta Accord, signed on December 15, 1994, is a prime example of such a consensus 

 approach. It represented a significant step in protecting California's environmental resources 

 and in providing water supply reliability to the state's urban populations and economies. The 



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