Good leadership by the governor and a good thing for our state.
Water storage and conveyance is one of our major public policy problems, which has not been adequately addressed for many years, making the situation much more perilous and requiring an urgent response from public leadership, which finally appears to be happening.
Water on governor's special session plan
State's supply, health care 'too important' to avoid, Schwarzenegger says.
By E.J. Schultz / Bee Capitol Bureau
09/12/07 04:54:43
SACRAMENTO -- A day after he said he would call a special session to address health-care reform, Gov. Schwarzenegger on Tuesday added water supply to the list -- another politically charged issue that lawmakers failed to solve during the regular session, which ends this week.
The inclusion of water projects on the agenda delighted Valley leaders who are fighting for state money for a new dam near Fresno. But with two other dams on the table as well as proposals to fix the delta, it's not clear how much money will come the Valley's way, or whether any deal is even within reach.
The special session began almost immediately after the governor called it and will likely last weeks.
"Efforts to reform our broken health-care system and to avert a water crisis are too important to walk away from simply because of a date on the legislative calendar," the governor said at a Capitol news conference.
Finding consensus on water has eluded the state's leaders for decades. This year, the governor put the issue at the top of his list. But he was unable to strike a deal with legislators during the nine-month regular session. Schwarzenegger blamed the 52-day budget impasse, saying leaders "ran out of time" to take on big issues.
