Water Plan Running Out Of Time

Due to expire on Sept. 30 of this year, funding for the waterpact between California and the U.S. government called CalFed may be injeopardy unless Congress votes to renew it. Both the House and theSenate Appropriations Committee have voted to eliminate the program's$60 million in federal funding in an energy and water appropriationsbill, causing Clinton administration leaders to threaten a presidentialveto. Supporters of CalFed assert its passage this year is integral tocontinue the momentum created by the plan announced by California Gov.Gray Davis and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, which outlines thedistribution of water among urban, farmer and environmental needs.