**Testimony of Gary W. Darling**

**General Manager, Delta Diablo Sanitation District**

**City of Antioch, California**

**Before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources**

**Subcommittee on Water and Power**

**S. 1475**

**The Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program Authorization Act of
2007**

**August 1, 2007**

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, good afternoon. My name is
Gary Darling and I am the General Manager of the Delta Diablo Sanitation
District in Antioch, California.

I appreciate the invitation to appear this afternoon to offer testimony
on behalf of the Bay Area Regional Water Recycling Program (BARWRP)
Coalition, a partnership of Bay Area Regional Water Recycling agencies,
in strong support of S. 1475, the "Bay Area Regional Water Recycling
Program Authorization Act of 2007."

At the outset, I want to extend the Coalition's deepest appreciation to
Senator Feinstein for her vision and leadership in introducing this
much-needed water legislation which will help eight Bay Area communities
-- a region with a growing population, limited water resources, and a
unique environmental setting - increase their municipal water supplies
through innovative water recycle projects. I also want to commend
Senator Boxer for being an original cosponsor of the bill.

Mr. Chairman, as a matter of background, BARWRP is a collaboration of 17
Bay Area public entities that, in cooperation with state and federal
governments, provide water and wastewater utility service to over
one-sixth of the population in California. BARWRP's mission is to pursue
water recycling in the San Francisco Bay Area from a regional
perspective. The Bay Area Water Recycling Master Plan, completed in
1999, identified 125,000 acre-feet per year of feasible recycled water
opportunities by 2010, and 240,000 acre-feet per year by 2025. Since
then, BARWRP agencies have invested nearly \$300 million in local funds
to water recycling projects, and many more projects are ready to be
built. BARWRP efforts have received assistance from the State through
Proposition 50 funding opportunities, and are in need of additional
support for implementation. The regional approach taken by Bay Area
agencies ensures that potential projects with the greatest regional and
statewide benefit receive the highest priority and support for
implementation. S. 1475 embodies these principles as espoused by the
Coalition.

While recycled water is an asset to any community, in the San Francisco
Bay Area the benefits of water reuse extend through California's network
of water supplies to the State and Nation. The region is part of the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta System -- the largest estuary on the west
coast of North America and a source of drinking water for two-thirds of
California's population. As a result, Bay Area communities help address
the needs of the entire region as they pursue recycled water
opportunities.

Specifically, this bill would help the eight Bay Area communities
increase their municipal water supplies through innovative and
much-needed water recycling projects.

These projects offer significant benefits. For California and the
Federal Government such benefits include: the preservation of State and
Federal reservoir supplies for higher uses rather than for urban
landscape irrigation, particularly in drought years; and, a cost
effective, environmentally friendly, implementable solution for
increased dry year yield in the sensitive Bay-Delta region. The
development of this new dry year yield advances the 1992 Central Valley
Improvement Act, which directs the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to
identify new dry year water yield projects. Regional and local benefits
include: the preservation of ever-declining water supplies from the
Sierra and Delta for higher uses; drought-proof assistance for the
region (as you know, California's snowpack is at its lowest in 19
years); provision of a sustainable and reliable source of water in light
of climate change; provision of environmental enhancement opportunities;
and results in a reduction in wastewater discharges to the sensitive
Bay-Delta environment.

The bill would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in
the following Bay Area Water Reuse Projects: Antioch Recycled Water
Project (Delta Diablo Sanitation District, City of Antioch); North Coast
County Water District Recycled Water Project (North Coast County Water
District); Mountain View/Moffett Area Water Reuse Project (City of Palo
Alto, City of Mountain View); Pittsburg Recycled Water Project (Delta
Diablo Sanitation District, City of Pittsburg); Redwood City Recycled
Water Project (City of Redwood); South Santa Clara County Recycled Water
Project (Santa Clara Valley Water District, South County Regional
Wastewater Authority); and, South Bay Advanced Recycled Water Treatment
Facility (Santa Clara Valley Water District, City of San Jose). This
Coalition or partnership is a great example where project sponsors have
come together to purse a federal partnership as a region on a water
supply issue, rather than as individual agencies.

The bill provides that each community with a project would be eligible
to receive 25% of the project's cost. The total cost of the seven
projects is \$110 million, but the Federal Government's share is only
\$27.5 million. State money is available for a portion of the project
costs. For the most part, the projects are ready to proceed and start
delivering their benefits -- the projects having been repeatedly vetted,
both internally at the local level and through the various steps of the
federal review process. In fact, two of the projects -- Pittsburg and
Palo Alto -- have met USBR's strict Title XVI Feasibility Guidelines and
are the first projects in the history of the Title XVI program to do so.
However, Federal funding is needed for all of the projects to make
implementation a reality.

These seven projects are estimated to create 12,205 acre-feet of new
water available annually in the short term, and 37,600 acre-feet
annually in the long term, all while reducing demand on the Delta and on
existing water infrastructure.

It is also noteworthy that each of the sponsors of the projects listed
in the Bill have committed to satisfying all of the USBR Title XVI
feasibility criteria. Sponsors are not seeking to have their projects'
legislated into compliance.

Timing for a federal partnership is critical. Two of the seven projects
listed in the bill, Pittsburg and Palo Alto, have received a State grant
funding commitment which requires that construction begin by July 15,
2007. Without a federal partnership in place at the start of fiscal year
2008, the projects are underfunded and may not proceed.

Regarding the Pittsburg project, Mr. Chairman, I want to call to the
Subcommittee's attention one difference between S. 1475 and H.R. 1526,
the House-passed companion bill. During the committee markup process in
the House the authorization level for the Pittsburg project was
increased from \$1.4 million to \$1.75 million to reflect updated
project cost estimates. As the Subcommittee gives further consideration
to S. 1475 we would respectfully request that the same change be made to
that subsection of the bill.

Lastly, Mr. Chairman, the bill would urge the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
to fully fund the San Jose Area Water Reclamation and Reuse Project,
already authorized by law and woefully underfunded to date.

Members of the Subcommittee, water recycling offers great potential to
states like California that suffer periodic droughts and have limited
fresh water supplies. To address these issues, S. 1475 would establish a
partnership between the Federal Government and local communities to
implement a regional water recycling program in the Bay Area. This
legislation is critical to meeting the water needs of the Bay Area.
Accordingly, the Coalition urges support of S. 1475.

Thank you.