168 



Testimony of 



Demiel G. Nelson 



Executive Director, Sam Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority 



Before the Subcoiomittee on Water euid Power 



Regarding H.R. 1906, the Central Valley Project Reform Act 



U.S. House of Representatives 



Washington, D.C. 



July 20, 1995 



Mr. Chairman, and Members of the Subcommittee: 



Good morning, my name is Dan Nelson, I am the Executive 

 Director of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, (the 

 Authority) . 



The Authority is comprised of 31 water agencies generally on 

 the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and extending into San 

 Benito and Santa Clara Counties. Member agencies have contracts 

 to receive a total of 3.3 million acre feet of water annually 

 from the Central Valley Project. These agencies deliver water to 

 about 1.3 million- acres of the most efficiently irrigated farm 

 land in the world, and to an urban population of about 500,000 

 people. They also provide water to more than 75,000 acres of 

 Pacific Flyway waterfowl habitat. 



Since enactment of the Central Valley Project Improvement 

 Act (CVPIA) in October of 1992, we - the customers of the CVP, 

 and others - have struggled along with the federal agencies to 

 implement the law. Water users have participated in literally 

 hundreds of meetings with agency personnel and other stakeholders 

 trying to achieve workable, effective and efficient 

 implementation of the CVPIA. 



At the same time, our Authority continues to be extremely 

 active in working on Bay-Delta issues. Our involvement in Bay- 

 Delta issues has helped us focus on new and better approaches for 

 implementing water policy and solving problems. 



We and the Bureau agree that there are many problems with 

 the implementation of the CVPIA. Commissioner Beard has outlined 

 several of these problems. 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. The 

 Bureau, on the other hand, says: "Trust us. We'll do the right 

 thing. . . .eventually. " 



Well, we've already tried to do it the Bureau's way and it 

 hasn't worked very well. The Bureau has strongly resisted 

 improving its implementation of CVPIA, and the improvements that 

 have been made have come only after long, tough struggles. In 



