http://www.capitalpress.com/california/ws-Water-Plan-010110

Updated: Saturday, January 02, 2010 11:09 AM

Six federal agencies directed to cooperate on California water

By Wes Sander

Capital Press

The Obama administration says it will boost water transfers in California in 2010 while aiding water efficiency and conservation on farms.

The policy is part of a plan that engages six federal agencies to attack California's water challenges while working to restore ecosystems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San Francisco Bay.

The administration says it wants to improve efficiency in the permitting process for water transfers between sellers and buyers. As part of that effort, the feds are considering a state-federal permit that would allow water to be transferred between state and federal water-use areas.

The administration says it will petition the State Water Resources Control Board to create the permit. The feds will also begin allowing users south of the Delta to carry over stored water for use in 2010.

Lester Snow, director of California's Department of Water Resources, said in a statement that the plan "signals the strong commitment of federal agencies to resolve California's pressing water challenges."

Following historic Delta-focused legislation enacted in November by state lawmakers, the federal plan "will take advantage of a historic window of opportunity to address critical ecosystem and water supply issues for millions of Californians," Snow said.

The administration says it is still considering how it might shape policies to complement the new legislation. A joint state-federal plan will be completed by February, the administration says.

As part of the plan, federal agencies will accelerate permitting for the Intertie project, a long-awaited pipeline that could increase availability in the federal Central Valley Project by 35,000 acre-feet annually.

The pipeline would connect the Delta-Mendota Canal with the California Aqueduct, allowing the state and federal projects to use one another's infrastructure above the San Luis Reservoir.

The federal plan stems from the California Bay-Delta agreement signed in September by six federal agencies, including the Interior, Agriculture and Commerce departments and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The administration touts the agreement as part of its "aggressive and coordinated" efforts to tackle water issues in California. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced in mid-2009 that the administration was breaking with the hands-off approach that the Bush administration took to the state's water issues.

The administration says it has invested more than $1 billion in 2009 to bring the state's water issues "from the back burner to the forefront of Federal attention."