The game is still afoot but now moves to the Congress where slow-down is cultural.
An excerpt.
Pressure's on for San Joaquin River plan to roll through Congress
River: Changes in plan expected
By Michael Doyle - Bee Washington Bureau Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, September 14, 2006
The political headwaters for the San Joaquin River now shift to Capitol Hill, where Congress is supposed to turn a river restoration plan into reality.
That could prove tricky. The ambitious river plan formally rolled out Wednesday relies on quick congressional action in an area where trickles are more common than torrents.
"Can this be passed in an election year, where there are only (a few) days left before adjournment?" asked Ken Robbins, an attorney for the Merced Irrigation District and other California water users. "It will be a horse race."
Theoretically, the new San Joaquin River settlement could collapse if Congress doesn't act by Dec. 31.
The House is scheduled to adjourn Sept. 29, and the Senate will follow a week later. No one knows how long a possible post-election lame-duck session could last.
Usually, Congress needs years rather than weeks to complete California water work.
Congress passed the last big California water bill in September 2004 -- more than three years after the Cal-Fed legislation was first introduced. The major California water bill before that was passed in October 1992, 30 months after the Central Valley Project Improvement Act was introduced.
So Robbins and other California water professionals will be listening closely on Capitol Hill today as negotiators brief lawmakers about the deal that until Wednesday remained under tight wraps.
"Our job is to craft something that works," said Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, "and we have hopes of doing that quickly."
The agreement returning water and salmon to the long-parched San Joaquin River settles an 18-year-old lawsuit pitting environmentalists against the farmers served by water stored behind Friant Dam, east of Fresno.
