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WASHINGTON 



yZ water law under pressure 



Qty interests Join farmers in calling for new Central Valley poiic| 



By Michael Doyle 

 Bee WuUngton ^nau 



". WASHINGTON - California's 

 politically potant urban water dis- 

 tricts voiced support Thursday for 

 legislative changes in a 1992 

 • Western water reform law. 



This aiDOunta to a mutual de- 

 fense pact with Central Valley 

 farmers, who initially draAed the 

 .new legislation. It means fau-mers 

 are no longer isolatad, but are po- 

 tentially aUied again with agen- 

 cies serving two-thirds of the 

 state's residents. 



That~alIiEmce still must negoti- 

 ate important differences over 

 what specific changes are needed 

 in the 1992 law reforming the 

 Central Valley Project. It also 

 "must survive a skeptical- Senate 

 and the partisanship that flared 

 Thursday at a House subcommit- 

 tee hearing. 



The politically significant devel- 

 opment, however, is the urban-ru- 

 r^l consensus that new law is 

 'again needed for the CVP's Redd- 

 ing-to-Bakersfield grid of dams, 

 canals and power plants. 



"After three years of experience, 

 \ye do believe both legislative and 

 'administrative changes are re- 

 quired," said Timothy Quinn, dep- 

 uty genera] manager of the Metro- 

 politan Water District of Southern 

 California. "There are problems to 

 be solved. " 



The 1992 law, written and 

 parsed with the Metropolitan Wa- 



66 



The (Clinton) 



administration is 



concerned that 



reopening the (law) . . . 



will lead to the return 



of gridlock in 



California's water 



policies. 



99 



Dan Beard 

 Bumu of R«clini>tion 



ter District's help, dedicates more 

 CVP water to fish and wildlife res- 

 toration. It guarantees water 

 supplies to refuges, charges farm- 

 ers an extra fee to fund environ- 

 mental work and eliminates the 

 right to perpetual renewal of irri- 

 gation contracts. 



Environmental groups and the 

 Clinton administration believe 

 the 1992 law is still too new to 

 change, with outgoing Bureau of 

 Reclamation Commissioner Dan 

 Beard telling a House panel 

 Thursday that legislative changes 

 are "premature and unnecessary." 



"The administration is con- 

 cerned that reopening the (law) 

 . . . will lead to the return of grid- 



lock in California's water poli- 

 cies," Beard testified before the 

 House water and power resouroai 

 subcommittee chaired by Rep. 

 John Doolittle. B-Rocklin. 



Beard helped write the 1992 

 law as a House staffer. He's leav* 

 ing his bureau position by Sep^ , 

 tember, however, and his pro- 

 posed replacement is a civil engi- 

 neer with a reputation more for 

 compromise and consensus than 

 environmental advocacy. 



Moreover, the bureau is already 

 making administrative concesr 

 sions - for instance, clariifyin^ 

 that water meters are not re- 

 quired on renewed contracta. ■ b , 



Emboldened l^ the Republicali 

 takeover of Congress, Valley la^^ 

 makers earlier this year introj 

 duced their package of refine- 

 ments to the 1992 law. ^ 



The new legislation authored by 

 Doolittle and others would rein- 

 state the guaranteed 25-year re- 

 newal of irrigation contraciiP'' 

 eliminate a study of restoring'th^r^^ 

 San Joaquin River, cap farmifi*!^' 

 fees and make other changes. ,| ^ ri 



Urban agencies, from the SanU }' 

 Clara Valley Water District in the ' 

 north to the San Diego Coun|ty - 

 Water Authority in the aouthj ah; 

 nounced support Thursday for 

 several key concepts in the bill. . 

 These include an end to tiered 

 pricing, under which farmers pay 

 more for using more water, and a 

 return to guaranteed water con- 

 tract renewals. ■■ ... ^.^ i 



