[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Items for 12/6/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

December 6, 2007

 

1.  Top Items

 

Businesses float water bond plan; Stalled legislative efforts prod bid to qualify measure for the November ballot - Sacramento Bee (This same article also appeared in the Fresno Bee)

 

Business, farm groups propose water bonds - Associated Press

 

 

Businesses float water bond plan; Stalled legislative efforts prod bid to qualify measure for the November ballot

Sacramento Bee (This same article also appeared in the Fresno Bee) – 12/6/07

By E.J. Schultz, staff writer

 

With legislative negotiations stalled, an alliance of business and farm groups on Wednesday began an effort to qualify an $11.7 billion water bond initiative for November's ballot.

 

The move sets up a potential ballot-box showdown between competing solutions to the state's water woes – a Republican-backed plan that places an emphasis on dams and a Democratic proposal that focuses on groundwater storage and conservation.

 

The business-backed measure is similar to the proposal Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and GOP lawmakers have pushed all year.

 

The California Chamber of Commerce, which is leading the effort, filed the proposal Wednesday with the state attorney general's office.

 

"We are encouraged and hopeful that a legislative agreement can be reached and a measure placed before voters next year," Allan Zaremberg, president of the chamber, said in a statement. "In case this does not happen legislatively, we felt it necessary to file these measures today in order to preserve our options and have adequate time to gather signatures for the November ballot."

 

The alliance filed four versions of the initiative and will spend the next several weeks deciding which one to pursue. To qualify an initiative, the group will need to gather 433,971 valid signatures.

 

Up to $3.5 billion would be set aside for dams, possibly including a reservoir northeast of Fresno at Temperance Flat. Other money would go for regional water supply grants and upgrades to the deteriorating Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the pass-through point for much of the state's water supply.

 

At least some versions of the proposal call for a system that would include a new canal to steer water around the Delta for agriculture and urban uses. A similar proposal, known as the Peripheral Canal, was defeated by voters in 1982.

 

The updated proposal, known as "dual conveyance," would pipe water both through and around the Delta. San Joaquin Valley farmers and Southern California water agencies favor the approach, but many environmentalists say not enough is known about the ecological effects.

 

The Democratic initiative, which has the backing of environmentalists, was filed earlier this year by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. The $6.8 billion bond includes money for water supply grants and Delta upgrades, but does not earmark money for dams.

 

Perata said two weeks ago that he would forgo the initiative for the "time being" in hopes of striking a legislative deal.

 

"We still feel that a legislative deal is the best solution," Alicia Trost, a Perata spokeswoman, said Wednesday. "We don't see how this (chamber-backed initiative) can be helpful."

 

If dueling initiatives make the ballot, the ensuing political fight could sink them both, both sides have conceded.

 

Attempts at a legislative solution have been stymied by the debate over dams. Schwarzenegger – who favors dams – called a special session on water nearly three months ago but has been unable to broker a deal.

 

"Californians up and down the state are facing the possibility of mandatory rationing and higher prices for water next year and into the future," the governor said in a statement Wednesday. "Failure to produce a solution is not an option, and I will continue to do everything in my power to get this done."

 

The governor has not given up on getting a deal done in time for the Feb. 5 election. But time has all but run out. On Friday, elections officials will start mailing ballots to military personnel stationed overseas.

 

The June and November elections are the next possible alternatives.

 

San Joaquin Valley agriculture leaders, who have lobbied for new dams for years, are growing impatient with the gridlock.

 

"It's really frustrating," said Mario Santoyo, assistant general manager of the Friant Water Users Authority, which represents east Valley growers. "I hate to see these guys struggling like this and know there are remedies out there, but politics prevents solutions from happening." #

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/546918.html

 

 

Business, farm groups propose water bonds

Associated Press – 12/6/07

 

SACRAMENTO -- A coalition of business and agricultural groups is preparing to put a $10 billion water bond measure before California voters in November.

 

The California Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday filed a series of initiatives in the latest indicator that water talks in the Legislature are dead.

 

The chamber's four initiatives borrow from plans proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrats during the Legislature's special session to bolster the state's water delivery system.

 

Lawmakers haven't been able to agree on dams, though, which are a key part of the governor's plan.

 

Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear says the governor still wants a deal on the February presidential primary ballot. #

http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_7649500?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com&nclick_check=1

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