That cleverest of American humorists, Mark Twain, is alleged to have made this remark, although the occasion is lost to the ages. Whether he actually said it or not, what was true in Twain's day is still valid. Freshwater in the West is precious and needs to be apportioned equitably to satisfy all users, including water district managers, farmers, and environmentalists. Executing long-term water contracts is one way of ensuring that no fights break out.

In 1992, Congress directed the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation, to renew water contracts, while reserving a proportion for environmental uses, such as fish and wildlife protection, restoration, and mitigation--uses deemed to be equivalent in priority to irrigation and domestic applications. Following years of negotiations and analyses, Reclamation signed long-term contracts with water districts and growers in California's Sacramento Valley. Tetra Tech prepared the environmental assessments for the contracts with the Feather Water District and with contractors of the Sacramento River Division.

We developed the alternatives to be analyzed to cover a range of possible contract terms, without committing to any set contract proposal. Because the price of water in a given year varies, our analysis covered a wide range of scenarios: a wet year following five dry years, a dry year following five wet years, an average year following five wet years, and so forth. Reclamation signed the contracts with the Feather Water District and the Sacramento River Division contractors this past fall and expects to sign the records of division this spring.