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<br />3!P <br /> <br />Page 3 <br />November 10, 1994 <br /> <br />3. The Contract relies on two county-based water conservation districts without <br />withdrawal restrictions established and enforced on a regionwide basis. <br /> <br />4. The Contract fails to establish a regional management agency for the aquifer, <br />relying instead on representatives of three independent districts to form a liaison <br />committee that has no supervisory authority over the districts. ' <br /> <br />5. Since it does not contain pumping restrictions, the Contract will not be recognized <br />by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the basis for a federal "incidental take" <br />permit. <br /> <br />Instead of outlining an effective management plan, the Contract does the following: <br /> <br />1. It recognizes and protects the autonomy of the MCUWCD and UCUWCD against <br />any region-wide restrictions on withdrawals. <br /> <br /> <br />2. It purports to base a financing structure on the principle that "whoever benefits-- <br />pays," but immunizes agricultural irrigators from fees based on water use. <br /> <br />3. It recognizes the need for water conservation measures and alternative water <br />supplies only for needs in excess of the 650,000 acre-feet/year total of the "Aquifer <br />Management Guidelines" that reflect the highest historic use of the aquifer, <br />thereby ignoring the need for alternative supplies that exists between the highest <br />use and the 200,000 acre-feet/year available from the aquifer in periods of low <br />recharge and springflow. In the words of Court Monitor Joe Moore, "[t]his contract <br />does the easy part, it divides up the surplus,..[t]he difficult job is dividing up a <br />shortage." <br /> <br />4. It purports to authorize markets for the transfer of water rights, without creating the <br />market for the rights by placing an overall limit on the amount of water available <br />for withdrawal. <br /> <br />In short, the Contract simply does not squarely address the fact that the Endangered <br />Species Act requires that withdrawals from the aquifer be limited to less, and perhaps much <br />less, than historic highs. <br /> <br />MBT:js <br /> <br />cc: Larry D. Gilley, City Manager <br />Laura Huffman, Assistant City Manager <br />