New circumstances determine new requirements and the plan the governor is promoting, including dams and conveyance, addresses them.
Lester Snow: Water plan would boost ailing system
By Lester Snow - Special To The Bee
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, September 30, 2007
Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, is responding to the Sept. 25 editorial "A Pat Brown-wannabe needs broader support."
The Bee fundamentally got it wrong in comparing the historic investment in water management by Gov. Pat Brown and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed plan to modernize our state's water system.
Over the years, water users and voters have invested more than $50 billion (in 2007 dollars) for a coordinated water system that includes the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project. Together, these projects provide Delta water to 25 million Californians and irrigate millions of acres of farmland. They also directly support more than $400 billion of our state's economy.
However, today those water supplies are much less reliable than they were just a year ago. In that context, the governor's $9 billion plan is a modest investment to modernize our state's water systems and prepare for the future.
