Long overdue in California, it is very heartening to see a state executive sticking so clearly to coming up with a solution to our obvious problems around water, while being able to cut through the torrent of words and ideologies to protect and enhance the common good of continued growth while preserving and protecting our natural environmental resources.
Governor goes where there's flow as he stresses state water crunch
Tour will study dams, canal around the Delta and more conservation.
By Kevin Yamamura - Bee Capitol Bureau
Published 12:00 am PDT Monday, July 16, 2007
As budget wrangling continues at the Capitol, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will head out to reservoirs and waterways this week to pressure lawmakers into approving water storage, conservation programs and a canal around the Delta later this year.
The Republican governor hopes to revive his water package after legislative Democrats blocked his $5.9 billion proposal in April. He wants lawmakers to agree this summer on a multibillion-dollar bond that would appear on the 2008 ballot.
Schwarzenegger also has shown more interest in a canal to transfer water around the Delta. His administration has framed the "conveyance" as a way to solve the state's ongoing environmental problems caused by pumping water through the Delta, but the idea has been controversial ever since voters rejected a similar "peripheral canal" in 1982.
Even though the governor's water tour comes as the state's budget deadlock enters its third week, water storage has not played a role in spending plan discussions, according to Schwarzenegger aides and Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine.
Schwarzenegger communications director Adam Mendelsohn said the governor is simply trying to lay the groundwork for a deal when lawmakers return in August from a scheduled summer break.
Democrats remain open to a deal with Republicans on a water package, but they do not want to commit the state to particular projects until after the governor's Delta Vision task force presents its findings in October, said state Sen. Darrell Steinberg, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.
Democrats rejected the governor's earlier proposal partly because they believed it was too focused on specific projects -- new storage above Friant Dam near Fresno and another new dam in Colusa and Glenn counties.
"I think the governor is correct in focusing on conveyance, conservation and supply," said Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "But if he's going to focus on two specific dam projects and if he's going to promote an alternative canal around the Delta, those specific solutions are premature."
Department of Water Resources director Lester Snow said Friday that he believes a deal can come together that remains flexible enough to incorporate the findings of the Delta Vision group, which is examining storage and canal possibilities.
"We're willing to engage in a discussion about what's the right way to do storage," Snow said.
But he also warned against the Legislature focusing too much on short-term solutions to the state's water needs without setting the stage for major storage or water transfer projects. He said the state for too long has tried to patch over its problems "like a Band-Aid."
Legislative Democrats and Republicans are engaged in water talks, Ackerman said.
He'd prefer as many as three new dams -- two in Northern California and one in Southern California -- and he said his caucus will demand that any agreement contain at least one specific site for water storage.
"I think we have enough information to take action now," Ackerman said. "All of these issues have been studied and studied and studied."
