The State - News from Aug. 1, 1985

The House Interior Committee approved legislation permitting California’s major water supply systems to merge operations, freeing 400,000 acre-feet of water annually for shipment from northern reservoirs to the San Joaquin Valley and points south. The Coordinated Operation Agreement, under negotiation for 25 years, would allow the federally run Central Valley Project to trade surplus water for the use of pumps and aqueducts owned by the California Water Project. The Interior Committee’s approval, on a voice vote, sends the bill to the House floor, where it is expected to pass easily. The senate will take up similar legislation later next fall.