Department Of Interior

Office of the Secretary
Contact:Bob Walsh 702-591-0029
For Immediate Release: December 11, 2003
Bob Laidlaw, 202-262-3158
 

Interior Secretary Norton Praises Agreement to
Implement California Water Solutions

MOU Helps Implement San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement

 

(WASHINGTON) - Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton today praised an agreement signed by Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner John Keys with Southern California's largest water agency. The agreement will help speed water efficiency and conservation projects aimed at solving some of the region's major water supply problems. The pact also will help implement the San Luis Rey Indian Water Rights Settlement Act.

The Memorandum of Understanding Commissioner Keys signed with representatives of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California will enable Interior agencies and Metropolitan to work more effectively and efficiently to carry out water supply projects and solutions called for in California's plan to reduce its overuse of Colorado River water to its authorized allocation of 4.4. million acre feet.

"At the recent signing of the Colorado River Water Delivery Agreement at Hoover Dam, I made a commitment to remain engaged in the effort to help California meet its longstanding promise to reduce its overuse of Colorado River water," Norton said. "This agreement is a first step in moving this historic effort from negotiated agreement to on-the-ground implementation. Metropolitan is a major stakeholder in the California 4.4. Plan and this agreement will speed our cooperative efforts."

Metropolitan Water District, a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving 18 million people in six Southern California counties, imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California through its major complex of canals and reservoirs. The MOU will enable several Interior agencies and Metropolitan to work more effectively and efficiently to carry out water supply initiatives called for in California's 4.4 Plan and the Colorado River Water Delivery Agreement.

One of the first major conservation efforts agreed to under these pacts is lining sections of the All American Canal in Southern California and using about 16,000 acre-feet of the water conserved by that project to fulfill a water rights settlement agreement with the San Luis Rey Parties. (P.L. 100-675).

The Memorandum of Understanding establishes a framework that will provide more consistent, effective, and collaborative solutions for the delivery of Colorado River water to Southern California users. The relationship offers enhancements and cost-savings over a range of activities, including water supply operations and management, public land management, resource impact assessment, protection of cultural/historic resources, and informed decision making.

Norton emphasized the importance of collaborative conservation and water management efforts to meet the needs of western communities facing chronic water shortages. Norton signed the Colorado River Water Delivery Agreement at Hoover Dam on October 16.



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