Building the canal is the best way to protect the Delta and water conveyance for the state, help strengthen the overall water system of California and ultimately benefit the Parkway.
Chance to fix state's water woes
OUR VIEW: The Legislature should give the Peripheral Canal serious consideration.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who seems to specialize in special sessions of the Legislature, has called another one to deal with health-care reform and to avert a water crisis in the state.
In the past, he has called special sessions to deal with the state budget, workers' compensation, pensions, redistricting and prisons, among other things. Some, like workers' comp, worked; others, like redistricting and prisons, didn't.
Now, there is optimism that can't rise above cautious about the Legislature's and governor's chances of fixing health care and securing the water supply.
On the water side, we'd like to see everything put on the table, including the long-taboo Peripheral Canal.
That was the plan championed by local state Sen. Ruben Ayala 25 years ago that would have diverted some of the water from the Sacramento River into the California Aqueduct before it reached the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
