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United States House of Representatives 



Committee on Resources 



Subcommittee on Water and Power Resources 



The Honorable John Doolittle, Chairman 



Statement of Richard M. Moss, Manager 



Friant Water Users Authority 



July 20, 1995 



Washington, D.C. 



Good morning Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Richard M. 

 Moss. I am the General Manager of the Friant Water Users Authority. The Friant Water 

 Users Authority is a Joint Powers Authority comprised of 25 member irrigation and water 

 districts along the east side of the San Joaquin Valley, ranging from Chowchilla Water 

 District on the north, in Madera County, to Arvin-Edison Water Storage District on the south, 

 in Kem County. Despite their diversity, these districts share a very important feature— they 

 all receive water from the Friant Division of the Central Valley I>roject ("CVP"). 



The Friant Division is one of the original parts of the CVP as conceived back in the 1920's 

 and 1930's by the State of California and subsequently developed by the federal government 

 under the Reclamation Program. Friant Division facilities include Friant Dam and Millerton 

 Lake on the San Joaquin River northeast of Fresno; the Madera Canal, which runs for 35 

 miles to the north, serving the Madera Irrigation District and the Chowchilla Water District, 

 and the Friant-Kem Canal, which runs for 152 miles to the south, delivering water to 26 

 differoit irrigation districts, water districts and cities. 



Friant Division water supplies make up a large part of the surface water available to the 

 counties of Fresno, Tulare, Kem and Madera. These, respectively, are the Nimiber 1, 

 Number 2, Number 3 and Number 7 producing counties in the nation in terms of agricultural 

 product The agricultural ou^ut from these four counties will exceed that produced in most 

 countries. 



The area is comprised of principally small family farms numbering in excess of 10,000 units, 

 planted to permanent plantings of high value crops. 



This truly is a region that is unique in its combination of soils, water, climate and talented 

 people. Because of its unique attributes, this area must be preserved and protected. There 

 has been clearly a federal role in the development of the region and there will continue to be 

 a federal role in assuring of the long-term productivity of the region. Much of what I will 

 describe to you here today, especially in terms of the suggested changes to the San Joaquin 

 River provisions of the Central Valley Project Improvement Aa ("CVPIA"), goes to the 

 notion of preserving and protecting this unique region. 



