We are deeply concerned with the current public law under the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982 (Public Law 97-293, Title II) As it stands, farmers operating on 960 acres or less are entitled to interest-free water on government projects amounting to several billion dollars. Both Marc Reisner (author of Cadillac Desert) and the Environmental Working Group estimate that the true cost of delivering water to the Westlands is $97/acre foot, while farmers are being charged between $7.50 and $11.80/acre foot. As the government continues to accumulate debt, farmers buying this subsidized water are not contributing at the expense of the tax-payers. Experts in the field agree that "the result of substantial Federal subsidies is that the low prices of Federally supplied irrigation water do not reflect its true value. Thus, it is used inefficiently, for there is little incentive to conserve” (Richard Wahl). Since farmers receiving subsidized water have little reason to practice sustainable, water-conscious techniques, California is faced with a slew of environmental problems ranging from ground-water-related subsidence, to near-extinction of the Delta Smelt, to the disaster in Owens Valley. Subsidized water also presents an issue regarding the economy. Although the Reclamation Reform Act explicitly states that farms must be smaller than 960 acres, statistics provided by the Environmental Working Group prove otherwise. According to estimates, 5% of Central Valley farms, 341 farms, received 49% of Central Valley water. On average, these farms received an estimated 3,400 acre feet/year, whereupon an average farm gets 350 acre feet/year. The fact is that a minority of farms control a disproportional amount of water. This upsets healthy competition between farmers. As a solution, contracts with CVP irrigation water users should be based on prices closer to market rate. The Bureau of Reclamation's "full cost" rate should be considered the absolute baseline.