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TESTIMONY OF STU ART L . SOMACH 



BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON RESOURCES 



REGARDING H.R 1906 



"THE CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT REFORM ACT OF 1995" 



WASHINGTON, D.C. 



July 20, 1995 



My name is Stuart L. Somach. I am an attorney with the Sacramento law 

 firm of De Cuir & Somach and am here representing various Northern 

 California water interests, including the Gleim-Colusa Irrigation District, for 

 which I am General Counsel, water contractors on the Tehama-Colusa Canal and 

 through the Northern California Water Association, numerous Sacramento 

 River Water Rights Settlement Contractors. 



The entities that I have listed (along with other water users who obtain all 

 or a part of their water supply through the Central Valley Project ("CVF')) have 

 had direct exposure to and have been directly affected by the Central Valley 

 Project Improvement Act, 106-Stat. 4707 ("CVPIA"). As a consequence, the 

 people I here represent have had and continue to have more than just a passing 

 interest in the CVPIA and its implementation. They have been greatly interested 

 in proposals that would clarify the CVPIA and better insure its reasonable and 

 successful implementation. 



We believe that H.R. 1906 constitutes one approach for dealing with 

 problems associated with the CVPIA. It addresses significant problems associated 

 with the CVPIA but still maintaiiis the core environmental purposes and 

 provisions of the CVPIA and, in fact, seeks to improve the chances that we will 

 achieve the CVPIA's primary goals. 



I know that this last statement may be hotly contested by some. Prior to 

 reaching any conclusions with respect to H.R 1906, we tmdertook an analysis of 

 its provisions with one eye on ii\suring that needed environmental protections 

 were not compromised and the other focused upon the need to clarify some of 

 the more troublesome provisions of the CVPIA. The conclusion of that analysis 

 is that each provision of the Bill is appropriate and that the Bill does not 

 compromise the core environmental protections within the CVPIA. 



I represent here individuals and entities that are all located within the 

 Sacramento Valley, upstream of the Delta. Those who hold prior water rights in 

 the Sacramento Valley settled the land around the time of Statehood and some 

 have perfected prior water rights that date back to the ISOCs. It is an area that is 

 environmentally rich and in which, over the last decade or so, great strides have 



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