Statement on Behalf of the County of Tulare, State of California, Concerning the Pacific Southwest Water Plan

Document: Before the California Water Commission, Statement on Behalf of the County of Tulare, State of California, Concerning the Pacific Southwest Water Plan Report of August, 1963, November 1, 1963, page 3The County of Tulare respectfully presents the following recommendations concerning this report for your consideration: 1. That before the report is approved by the State of California, that it be amended to provide for additional water development facilities in Phase I to make available in the Delta the export water required by Phase I, together with the water supply necessary to maintain water quality in the Delta to at least the standard now maintained by the Central Valley Project. 2. That before the report is approved by the State of California, that a contractual agreement be negotiated and executed between the United States and California, wherein and whereby the United States agrees that any water supply developed by the United States in California, pursuant to this plan, be first used by the United States to satisfy the needs, present and future, of the State of California, before any of said water supply is exported from the State of California, directly or by exchange of water. Non-contractual assurances, even though given in sincerety and good faith, are not, in our opinion, a satisfactory substitute for a firm contractual agreement. 3. In view of the fact that the inclusion of an incremental increase in the size of the California Aqueduct, pursuant to the proposed plan, would, of necessity, delay the construction of said Aqueduct, and considering the fact that the Department of the Interior is already proposing the construction of a major water transportation facility on the East Side of the San Joaquin Valley, it would seem more practical and expedient if the conveyance facility contemplated in Phase I of the plan be built on the East Side of the Valley as contemplated in Alternative Plan 1 of the Bureau of Reclamation Appendix to the report. 4. That the State of California should not endorse the subsidization of municipal and/or industrial water in this water development plan or any other plan as municipalities have adequately demonstrated that they can solve the cost problem without assistance of this nature. -3-Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 1,041,578 byte