NEWS RELEASE

Date: July 5, 2002

Water district recognized for early completion of new accounting standards

SAN JOSÉ - The Santa Clara Valley Water District has received an award for being among the first governmental agencies in the nation to comply with new financial reporting standards for the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board awarded the district a certificate of recognition for early implementation of new standards intended to improve financial reporting, enhance awareness of fiscal issues facing state and local governments, recognize the importance of adequately maintaining infrastructure and to prepare audited financial statements in accordance with “generally accepted accounting principles.”

“We are extremely pleased, and impressed, by the district’s ability to prepare the new financial statements in such a timely fashion,” Tom Allen, chairman of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, said in a letter to the district’s Deputy Administrative Officer, Olga Martin Steele.

“… Congratulations for a job well done.”

Steele said the district’s successful early implementation of the new standards - known as Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 34 ? required careful planning, staff training and the allocation of resources necessary to accomplish the task.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages Santa Clara County's wholesale drinking water resources, coordinates flood protection for its 1.7 million residents and provides stewardship for the county's 10 reservoirs and more than 700 miles of streams.