At last! Historic water plan gets Legislature's nod
| Wednesday, Nov 04 2009 03:39 PM
Last Updated Wednesday, Nov 04 2009 03:39 PM
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There's an old saying about watching the process of sausage-making. It's not a pretty sight. The same holds true for law-making, too -- a fact never more in evidence than with the decades-long effort to pass legislation that would keep California's fragile water delivery system from collapsing.
From a Legislature plagued by partisan bickering has emerged a comprehensive package of bills to shore up near-crumbling levies in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, mandate water conservation in bone-dry California, balance environmental concerns with economic necessities, and promise generations of Californians that they won't go thirsty.
The bills that passed the Legislature in the early morning hours Wednesday still must be signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger. But already he is celebrating a victory in his hard-fought battle to get an historic water plan approved.
Bakersfield Republican Assemblywoman Jean Fuller played a key role in negotiating the plan. Shafter Democratic Sen. Dean Florez, as part of the Senate's leadership team, also helped keep negotiations moving.
The price tag for this "water fix" is huge. The Legislature is proposing a $11.1 billion bond that must be approved by voters next year before any improvement to the state's water system becomes reality. It will be a tough sell. But California's elected leaders must convince voters to increase the state's debt to pay for long-needed water projects.
The Legislature's action this week is a stunning major step forward in a struggle that has been repeatedly derailed by special interest attacks and geographical squabbling.
Foolishly characterized as a people vs. fish battle, or as Southern California stealing Northern California's water, decades-long efforts to fix the Delta, where water to Southern California cities and Central Valley farmers first must flow, has been fueled more by emotions than by facts.
But several years of drought, resulting in dry agricultural fields, farm workers without jobs and ecological problems mounting in the Delta have driven home the reality that California's water insanity can no longer continue.
"This Legislature has accomplished something tonight that the Legislature hasn't accomplished in decades," Senate Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, told sleep-deprived lawmakers after the vote.
"Water is the lifeblood of everything we do in California," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "Without clean, reliable water, we cannot build, we cannot farm, we cannot grow and we cannot prosper. That is why I am so proud that the Legislature, Democrats and Republicans, came together and tackled one of the most complicated issues in our state's history."
The water package legislators approved contains five major parts:
* Creates a seven-member politically appointed board to oversee the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. While construction of a controversial through-delta canal is not included in the plan, this board can decide to build one.
* Mandates 20 percent water-use reduction in urban areas. Agricultural entities will have to follow "best practices" for water use.
* Requires monitoring of groundwater levels throughout the state.
* Increases penalties for illegal water diversions.
* Places an $11.1 billion bond on the 2010 ballot to pay for water system projects, with $3 billion set aside for new water storage and more than $2 billion for restoration of the Delta's ecosystem.
It's been a long time coming. All we can say is: Finally!
