A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
October 15, 2007
1. Top Items
Water bond, health care unlikely to make February ballot - San Francisco Chronicle
State's water trouble a perfect storm; Analysis: Drought, judge's ruling on fish, growing population all part of shortage - Long Beach Press Telegram
Column: Water bondage?; Bond proposals seek to solve every conceivable water problem – a guarantee for gridlock - Orange County Register
Guest Column:
Editorial: Dueling Bonds; Don't ask voters to do lawmakers' job -
Editorial: All wet; Despite new threats, lawmakers can't agree on water bond - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Water bond, health care unlikely to make February ballot
San Francisco Chronicle – 10/13/07
By Tom Chorneau, staff writer
The leader of the state Assembly said Friday that legislators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are not likely to agree on health care reform or expansion of water storage in
But Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, insisted that negotiations will continue at least for the next few weeks in hopes of hammering out a compromise on both issues that might go on the ballot either in June or November 2008.
That means a special legislative session that Schwarzenegger called last month to consider health care and water issues will not close as expected on Tuesday but likely will run through mid-November.
Also on Friday, Núñez defended himself against recent criticism of his lavish use of campaign money while on international junkets, saying the spending was legal and did not influence his voting in
Núñez, 40, a former labor organizer who grew up in hardscrabble parts of
But his campaign disclosure statements show that he spent $8,745 at the Hotel Arts in
"Everything I have purchased with my campaign account is totally legal and is a completely legitimate use of campaign dollars," he said.
Meanwhile, the gap between the Republican governor and Democrats on health care and water appeared to widen on Friday.
Schwarzenegger vetoed a Democratic health care bill aimed at covering 4.8 million uninsured Californians paid for largely by employers - and urged lawmakers to continue working on a deal.
The governor and Republican lawmakers want to put a $9 billion water bond measure before voters that would allow most of the money to be used for the construction of two dams and the expansion of a third.
Democrats want more of the money used for water conservation programs, recycling and other, less-expensive strategies. They've proposed a $6.8 billion plan that would spend far less on dam construction.
Núñez said Friday that he would not support any bond measure that set aside any money exclusively for dams. He also said the governor and Republican lawmakers must revise their proposal in order to gain Democratic support.
On health care, Schwarzenegger and Democrats agree that all 6.8 million Californians that lack health insurance should get coverage and that employers and workers along with government should share most of the costs.
But Schwarzenegger wants to require that all residents have health insurance and require all insurers to accept any applicant regardless of health or background to create as large an insurance pool as possible. Democrats continued to be concerned about the cost of policies that low- and moderate-income families would be required to have.
Núñez said the two sides remain at odds.
"We are not going to do a deal just to do a deal - we are going to get it right," he said. #
State's water trouble a perfect storm; Analysis: Drought, judge's ruling on fish, growing population all part of shortage
By Paul Eakins, staff writer
Any little incident - road construction, a fender bender or just too many drivers using the freeway at once - can snowball into a major traffic jam.
Right now, the region's water supply is experiencing a 10-car pileup.
A dry year in Southern California, an ongoing drought along the
Many cities are bracing for the worst, most notably
Even if the region gets decent rainfall this winter, that isn't likely to alleviate the water supply problem for
"It's a crisis that's not going to go away when it starts raining," said Jennifer Persike, spokeswoman for the Association of California Water Agencies, which is the largest coalition of public water agencies in the country and whose members are responsible for more than 90 percent of the water delivered in the state.
Much of the water that allows
In implementing the city's water-use rules, which limit lawn irrigation to three days a week among other restrictions, Long Beach Water Department officials say they hope to educate residents and encourage water conservation. The city utilizes almost 23 billion gallons of water per year, and each person uses an average of 121 gallons per day.
The city's total usage is still at one of its lowest of the past 15 years despite population increases, according to Water Department statistics.
On Friday, water officials announced that last month's water use was the lowest of any September in the last 10 years.
Of the 23 billion gallons of water used annually, almost 11 billion gallons come from local groundwater sources, while more than 12 billion gallons are imported from other regions.
Most neighboring cities don't rely on nearly as much imported water.
According to the respective city officials,
The Metropolitan Water District based in
About two-thirds, or 8 billion gallons, of
But these water sources are in peril.
Delta blues
If the state's water supply is like the Los Angeles County freeways, then the Bay Delta in Northern California east of the San Francisco Bay is downtown Los Angeles.
Like the web of highways that converge downtown, the delta is a complex and intricate "roadway" of rivers, channels and canals, each connecting to the next.
The two biggest waterways flowing into the delta are the Sacramento River from the north and the
The rivers help make the delta a lush agricultural producer and the hub of the State Water Project, supplying water to millions of acres of farmland and to two-thirds of the state's population. The delta waters converge at its western end, emptying into
But one small, endangered fish and a federal judge are the fender bender that has made traffic along this water freeway slow to a crawl as it heads south.
The delta smelt is a slender-bodied fish that may grow 2 to 3 inches long and spends most if its year-long life at the convergence of the
However, the smelt move upstream to spawn in the channels of the delta between late winter and early summer, and this is the problem.
Just south of where the fish spawn is a pumping plant that pulls water from the delta and sends it down a series of canals and aqueducts to
The tiny fish get pulled with the water into the pumps, where they don't survive. The smelt, once plentiful, are shrinking in number, which affects other wildlife, said Sue Sims of the state Department of Water Resources.
"They're an indicator species," Sims said. "It's like the canary in the coal mine. And as the smelt goes, many people say, so goes the health of many species in the delta."
Environmental groups challenged the pumping in federal court, and a judge ruled last month that the pumps will have to run less frequently during the smelt spawning period. This is expected to reduce the amount of water sent downstream to other parts of the state by 30 percent.
On top of this, dry conditions have reduced water levels in the three Northern California water storage reservoirs that supply
But unlike 15 years ago, a lack of rainfall isn't the only culprit in the water shortage, said Persike, of the Association of California Water Agencies.
"The drought of the late '80s, early '90s, was a drought related to weather," Persike said. "This is a different drought. This is a drought caused by regulatory action. This is a drought triggered by the fact that really the delta is broken."
Another water resource has dwindled as well in recent years.
The 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct, which was built in the 1930s, diverts water from the Colorado River at
"From the 1990s to 2000, that aqueduct ran full flow, whatever (the water district) needed," Kevin Wattier, general manager of the Long Beach Water Department, said in a recent interview.
But earlier this decade, other states through which the Colorado River flows, namely
So, a 2003 water-use agreement was created, reducing
A dry future?
In December, the Metropolitan Water District will decide how to allocate its water supplies to
Last week, water district officials announced that farmers may see a 30 percent supply cut by next year, that wholesale water rates could increase 10 percent by 2009, and that eventually the state may not have enough water to meet Southern California's demands 70 percent of the time.
When the water district allocation is announced, some cities won't be happy, Wattier said.
"It's a win-lose type situation," he said. "Somebody gets more, and somebody gets less."
Adding to the water supply pileup is the region's exploding population.
The 2000 Census counted 16.5 million people in Southern California, and the Southern California Association of Governments projects the population will reach 22.6 million by 2025.
But changing the culture of water use in
"We're at a point as a state where we really have to decide what we're going to do, and there's going to be a major policy change," Wattier said. "Are we going to live with what we have and dramatically change our lifestyles, or are we going to spend billions of dollars to make up the difference?" #
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_7173031
Column: Water bondage?; Bond proposals seek to solve every conceivable water problem – a guarantee for gridlock
Orange County
By Mark Landsbaum, Editorial Writer
Let's stipulate a couple of points:
1. We don't claim to be experts on water distribution or storage.
2. The claim that
"Enough water falls from the sky and drains into the ocean that if we managed it in an efficient manner . . . environmentalists, builders, farmers – everybody who wants water – could have an ample amount for their preferred purposes," says state Senator Dave Cogdill, R-Fresno.
That said, there isa problem, obscured as it may be by hyperbole and opportunism.
When addressing the problem, it's hard to argue with Democrat Senate Leader Don Perata who says, "We believe that the state bureaucracy has a poor track record making water supply and reliability decisions from
Generally, the best government decisions are made closest to the people. The difficulty with
First, when disparate interests insist on getting everything they want, it can result in gridlock. That's what has happened in
It results in nothing – good or bad – getting done.
Second, disparate interests can bring about an even greater evil: everyone getting what they want. In
Californians' long history of out-of-control spending and appetites larger than their pocketbooks have resulted in using the state's credit cards – bonded debt – to pay for more and more, until the total bonded debt now exceeds $48 billion with another $73 billion-plus in bonds authorized but not yet sold. Now come Mr. Schwarzenegger and cohorts and Mr. Perata and friends to tack on a few billions more.
We grudgingly agree with both parties that a statewide fix for
The Register editorialized last summer that attempting to do everything for everybody is unwise: "...by insisting on a single 'comprehensive' bond measure that includes 'everything' – even vague, expensive, controversial dams – we worry that a chance to address these important problems could be squandered."
The worry is justified. Mr. Perata and Mr. Schwarzenegger seem intent on getting everything they want, as opposed to everything the other wants. The ensuing gridlock won't provide a drop more water.
If neither side persuades the other, and that's increasingly likely, both are expected to take their all-or-nothing proposals to the voters on the November 2008 ballot, with Perata's $6.8 billion proposal heavy on conservation and ecological fixes and incentives for locally financed dams, and Schwarzenegger's $9 billion plan heavy on state-funded dams and groundwater storage.
Perata's proposal would provide $2 billion in grants and spending for improved water use efficiency, recycling, reclamation and desalination, surface and groundwater storage, contamination prevention and clean-up, and $2.4 billion for "delta sustainability," including ecosystem restoration. It would provide another $1 billion for restoration and watershed management projects, and delta protection against invasive species. Another $1.1 billion is set aside for groundwater protection and quality, and $250 million for water recycling.
Schwarzenegger's proposal calls for $5.1 billion to build two dams in
If there's anything worse than an all-encompassing government plan to solve every water problem conceived by legislators most of whom would be hard-pressed to tell you its specifics let alone its ramifications, it's an all-encompassing government plan to solve every water problem left up to voters most of whom will cast ballots based on 30-second TV ads.
Moreover, the ballot history of such dueling initiatives is that neither wins. The upshot will be another year wasted. More water poured into the ocean instead of into reservoirs, underground aquifers, dams, homes and on to crops. The obsession with a lofty-sounding comprehensive fix probably is doomed to accomplish zero.
With a shortage of statesmen to bridge competing parochial interests, it may be time for the Legislature to approach the problem on a less-grand scale. It might be time for each interest to recognize progress can be made by accommodation, even if it means not getting something in return. We've seen the gridlock of unbending self-interest. Perhaps a little selfless sacrifice can break the log jam.
Sacrifice? In
To get something, it's becoming clear you can't keep demanding everything. But if you settle for something – whether it's ecological rehabilitation of the delta or a mid-state reservoir that principally benefits agriculture – you may get more, later.
We find much good in virtually everything sought by both sides, from restoration of dangerously vulnerable levees in the delta to plans to divert some water before it reaches the delta to feed the need to the south. But we're not experts.
The delta's fragile ecological condition, everyone seems to agree, is in dire need of a fix. Water storage is another need, and perhaps even more so in the north than the south. Water delivery south of the delta is another. Additional above- and below-ground storage seem justified.
We hesitate to dictate to those already obsessed with dictating to each other. But maybe fixing one problem at a time might win others' support to address another need later on. If not, at least one problem may be solved. #
http://www.ocregister.com/column/water-billion-problem-1889770-delta-everything
Guest Column:
Redding Record Searchlight – 10/15/07
By Bob Williams,
Water passing through the Delta provides water for about 23 million Californians. The Delta has multiple problems -- sinking land, failing levees, and a multitude of infrastructure liabilities that, given an earthquake at the right point, could make New
We will consider here not the potential for catastrophe but the perennial battle over water distribution: often a battle between north and south; between economic use and environmental preservation.
Two water plans have the most traction in the Legislature. The $6.9 billion plan by Don Perata, Senate president pro tem, would provide local water agencies, primarily cities, $2 billion to spend on water storage. It would also include $2 billion in repairs for Delta levees and other infrastructure.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan involves a $9 billion bond measure. This includes $5.1 billion for two new dams, an unspecified amount to expand a third, $500 million for ground water storage, and just under $2 billion for Delta improvements.
It also includes a vaguely described "water conveyance system" to move water around the Delta, which, while avoiding the word, sounds like a peripheral canal.
Two broad interest groups are contesting over these two plans: municipal water districts and agricultural water districts.
Environmentalists usually line up with the municipal water districts. Agriculturalists will favor Schwarzenegger's plan for surface water storage. Their water rights, under
One-third of all water for the
Since they are a critically endangered species, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled that pumping must be restricted from the end of December, when the fish are ready to spawn, until June. The Metropolitan Water District in Southern California stands to lose up to 30 percent of its water from
Wanger's ruling also comes at a time when Southern California and the Colorado River drainage have had eight years of drought and when the San Luis Reservoir in
The Delta pumps are not the only, and perhaps not the major, culprit in the decline of Delta smelt. The smelt is one of the open water, saline-adapted species native only to the Delta. It seems that they are adapted to and thrive in the summer saltwater intrusion of the central and northern Delta. Recent studies indicate that invasive species have thrived and outcompeted the smelt in part because high freshwater flows from the
This summer fresh-water flow has been developed, at great expense, to encourage salmon spawning in the main channel of the
This shows that the comprehensive studies of
http://www.redding.com/news/2007/oct/15/california-water-faces-tide-of-problems/
Editorial: Dueling Bonds; Don't ask voters to do lawmakers' job
The clock is running out on the Legislature's special session and so far there is no agreement on how
The governor is pushing a $9.1 billion water storage measure that includes building dams and reservoirs. The Democrats' $6.8 billion plan focuses on conservation and restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Both sides are threatening to put their competing measures in front of voters next year - perhaps the worst idea to come floating up from this morass.
If 120
Voters aren't immune from the competing interests that tug at legislators. Voters whose livelihoods depend on agriculture will want one thing; those who live in cities or run businesses will prefer something else. And let's not forget the state's usual north-south divide when it comes to water issues.
Besides, unlike legislators, voters don't have the ability to tweak legislation, to revise plans, to make trade-offs or hammer out compromises. That is why complicated issues like this should never be decided at the ballot box.
Let's hope that the threat of competing bond measures is just that, a threat designed to bring everyone back to the bargaining table. Tuesday is the deadline to craft a measure for the February ballot, although lawmakers could work a little longer if they wanted to issue a supplemental ballot.
But what's the rush to vote on this in February? Californians are going to the polls three times next year. If extending negotiations would produce a well-crafted, bipartisan plan for a later ballot, then it would be worth the wait.
It would also be worth waiting to hear what groups such as the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force have to say. It has been working all year on ideas for the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the linchpin of the state's water delivery system. Its report isn't even due until the end of this year.
Those who doubt the benefits of taking more time to craft a comprehensive water plan should take a look at the flood-control measures produced by this year's Legislature and signed by the governor last week.
A year ago, those plans to keep Hurricane Katrina-style damage from occurring in the Delta and
Legislators and the governor should tap into that kind of resolve to work through the state's water issues.
In the meantime, while voters patiently await a bipartisan plan, the state can implement the "no regrets" policies that will inevitably be part of any solution. Start pushing water conservation. And start setting aside the money that will be needed to pay for the inevitable work that must be done. #
http://www.thereporter.com/opinion/ci_7177134
Editorial: All wet; Despite new threats, lawmakers can't agree on water bond
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 10/11/07
What, exactly, are Californians paying the Legislature and governor to do? Not to make tough decisions, apparently.
Once again, when given an opportunity to resolve one of the state's most pressing problems,
After failing to reach agreement on a bond measure that would improve and expand water supply, on Tuesday both Democratic and Republican leaders threatened to place competing measures before state voters.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Republican leaders want a $9.1 billion bond that would allocate $5.1 billion to the construction or expansion of three central
Legislative Democrats support a $6.8 billion bond that would divide the money regionally to be used for a variety of projects, including desalination, groundwater cleanup and up to $2 billion on reservoirs. The Democratic bill failed to get the necessary two-thirds votes to pass it out of the Senate.
As a result, the governor and Democratic leaders promised to place competing measures on the ballot through the initiative process.
Thanks a lot. It doesn't make sense to "solve" the water crisis based on which campaign has the largest war chest or the catchiest TV ads. Even worse would be for both measures to fail, delaying action for another two years.
If lawmakers have forgotten, there are real threats to water supply.
Exhibit A: A recent court decision supporting the protection of the delta smelt has limited the amount of water that can be taken from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As a result, on Monday the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California announced that it will likely ration and raise the rates of residential water and that it will reduce by 30 percent the water supplied to farmers.
Rather than threatening to appeal directly to voters, lawmakers should do their jobs and craft a compromise that will deal with the state's immediate challenges while creating a process that will allow future water storage needs to be met. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071011/NEWS/710110309/1043/OPINION01
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