[env-trinity] San Luis Renewal Contracts

[Byron]

Contract renewal for lands irrigated with Trinity water.  Comment period
ends September 7.

 

Mid-Pacific Region
Sacramento, Calif.
Media Contact:
Jeffrey McCracken
916-978-5100

Released On: July 10, 2007

Proposed Interim Renewal Water Service Contracts for San Luis Unit
Contractors Available for Review
On April 23, 2007, the Bureau of Reclamation held a negotiation session for
interim renewal water service contracts with San Luis Unit contractors
including the City of Avenal (3,500 acre-feet), City of Coalinga (10,000
acre-feet), City of Huron (3,000 acre-feet), California Department of Fish
and Game (10 acre-feet), Panoche Water District (94,000 acre-feet), San Luis
Water District (125,080 acre-feet), and Westlands Water District (1,150,000
acre-feet).  This session was held at Reclamation's South-Central California
Area Office located in Fresno, California.  The San Luis Unit contractors
currently receive Central Valley Project (CVP) water under long-term water
service contracts.  The Westlands Water District contract expires on
December 31, 2007, and the remaining long-term contracts expire at the end
of 2008.

Previously, Reclamation and each of these contractors negotiated proposed
long-term renewal contracts (LTRCs), each of which was released for 60-day
public review and comment periods between 2004 and 2005.  However, because
some of the San Luis Unit long-term water service contracts will expire
prior to Reclamation completing its preparation and consideration of all
appropriate environmental documentation and subsequent execution,
Reclamation prepared the subject proposed interim renewal contracts.  The
LTRCs were used to develop Reclamation's form of proposed interim renewal
contract from which changes were negotiated.  Reclamation introduced this
proposed form of interim renewal contract in redline/strikeout format at the
April 23 negotiation session as exhibit "USBR SLU-IR-2007-01."  Reclamation
is making the negotiated material available, which may assist the public in
understanding how the negotiated proposed form of interim renewal contract
was derived.  Three proposed contract forms, together with the proposed
interim renewal contracts for each renewing San Luis Unit entity, are being
made available.

Although the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) allows for each
contractor's initial interim renewal contract to be for a term of 3 years,
the proposed term of these interim renewal contracts is 26 months beginning
from the expiration date of their respective current long-term contracts.
The 26-month term was negotiated in order to align these proposed interim
renewal contracts with our March-February water allocation practices while
staying within the bounds of CVPIA interim renewal contract term limits.

The proposed form of interim renewal contract (Exhibit "USBR
SLU-IR-2007-01"), the general form of interim renewal contract for
"Municipal and Industrial," the general form of interim renewal contract for
"Irrigation," and the proposed interim renewal water service contracts for
these seven San Luis Unit contractors are available on Reclamation's website
at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvpia/3404c/lt_contracts/2007_int_cts/index.html.
The 60-day public review and comment period for these proposed interim
renewal contracts opens on Tuesday, July 10, 2007, and closes on Friday,
September 7, 2007.  If you encounter problems accessing documents on-line,
please contact Ms. Lynnette Wirth at 916-978-5100 or lwirth at mp.usbr.gov.

Please address written comments to Ms. Sheryl Carter, Bureau of Reclamation,
South-Central California Area Office, 1243 N Street, Fresno, CA 93721.
Comments may also be e-mailed to scarter at mp.usbr.gov.  For additional
information or to request a copy of the documents referenced above, please
contact Ms. Carter at 559-487-5299 (TDD 559-487-5933) or Mr. Richard
Stevenson, Chief of Water Rights and Contracts, Mid-Pacific Region,
Sacramento, at 916-978-5250  (TDD 916-978-5608).

 

Byron Leydecker

Friends of Trinity River, Chair

California Trout, Inc., Advisor

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810

415 383 9562 fax

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://www.fotr.org

http://www.caltrout.org

 

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