Opinion ID: 207966
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Central Valley Project Improvement Act

Text: In 1992, before the Districts ever received water from New Melones under the 1983 contracts, Congress enacted the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA). [13] The purposes of the Act include the following: (a) to protect, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and associated habitats in the Central Valley and Trinity River basins of California; (b) to address impacts of the Central Valley Project on fish, wildlife and associated habitats; . . . . (f) to achieve a reasonable balance among competing demands for use of Central Valley Project water, including the requirements of fish and wildlife, agricultural, municipal and industrial and power contractors. [14] The CVPIA expressly required the release of substantial quantities of water for fish, wildlife, and habitat restoration needs, directing Reclamation to dedicate annually 800,000 acre-feet of the total CVP yield to those purposes. [15] This legislation significantly affected Reclamation's operation of the CVP. Though no provision of the CVPIA was directed specifically at the operation of the New Melones Unit, as will be discussed below Reclamation's decisions regarding implementation of the CVPIA impacted the amount of water made available from New Melones for consumptive uses.