Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
February 28, 2008
1. Top Items
Senators tell Schwarzenegger to curtail work on peripheral canal - Associated Press
Canal plan ignites old state feud; Three lawmakers accuse governor of enflaming rivalries, threaten to halt negotiations over water bond - Contra Costa Times
No end run on '
Senators tell Schwarzenegger to curtail work on peripheral canal
Associated Press – 2/27/08
By Steve Lawrence, staff writer
SACRAMENTO—Three Senate Democrats accused Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday of jeopardizing negotiations over water projects and generating regional tensions by moving ahead with planning for a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
"Launching a peripheral canal without addressing ecosystem, water quality, structure and governance simply enflames old sectional passions and suspicions," Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, Sen. Mike Machado and Sen. Darrell Steinberg said in a letter to the Republican governor.
"And it moves us in the exact opposite direction from a comprehensive water policy. Frankly, we find it difficult to negotiate seriously with (the Department of Water Resources) and other interests in view of this."
The concept of a peripheral canal has been controversial for decades, with many
The senators said they had been told that the administration was preparing an executive order requiring environmental and engineering work on a canal, even though lawmakers had not approved the governor's request for funding to pay for staff to do the work.
The information about the executive order came from an unidentified California Resources Agency official who made a comment about it during a public meeting on a delta conservation plan last Friday, the lawmakers said.
They said they also were disturbed by the Department of Water Resource's assertion last November that it had "broad authority and discretion to construct facilities like the Peripheral Canal" without additional authorization from the Legislature.
Asked about the letter on Wednesday, Schwarzenegger said he had no plans to sign an executive order.
"I'm not off doing anything," he said during a news conference called to announce efforts to fix 97 failing school districts. "I'm right now working with everybody and bringing everyone together to make sure that we rebuild our water system so that we can guarantee people not only 20 years from now, but 30, 40, 50 years from now that when they turn on the faucet, there is water coming out."
The governor called a special legislative session last year to try to reach a deal on a series of projects that would boost the state's water supply, but the administration and the Legislature's Democratic leaders remain divided over how much money—if any—should be spent on new dams.
Democrats prefer increased water conservation measures.
In the background is a ballot initiative sponsored by the California Chamber of Commerce that would authorize the sale of $11.6 billion in bonds to pay for water projects, including new dams and a peripheral canal.
Schwarzenegger has said he hopes the Legislature will reach an agreement that will enable it to put its own water measure on the November ballot. In an attempt to restart negotiations, he brought in U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein last week for a meeting with Republican and Democratic legislators.
Perata, Machado and Steinberg said they found it vexing that the administration was talking about going ahead with planning for a peripheral canal after Schwarzenegger repeatedly stressed at that meeting "the singular importance of reaching a balanced statewide consensus on water policy. ..."
Steinberg, of
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_8383084
Canal plan ignites old state feud; Three lawmakers accuse governor of enflaming rivalries, threaten to halt negotiations over water bond
Contra Costa Times – 2/28/08
By Mike Taugher, staff writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's request for a new team to plan rerouting of water away from the Delta -- a peripheral canal -- has ignited opposition in the Legislature.
Three key lawmakers on Wednesday angrily accused the governor of enflaming rivalries and threatened to halt negotiations over a multibillion-dollar water bond.
"Launching a peripheral canal without addressing ecosystem, water quality, structure and governance simply enflames old sectional passions and suspicions," the three senators wrote. "It moves us in the exact opposite direction from a comprehensive water policy."
The letter was signed by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland; his successor as Senate leader, Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, and Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden. The showdown comes as lawmakers and the administration face off over whether the Department of Water Resources already has the legal authority to build the canal.
The administration says that it does but lawmakers are not so sure.
The request to add eight new positions to plan a canal could be one of the few occasions for which the administration voluntarily seeks approval from lawmakers -- and it could be an uphill climb.
"We're getting way ahead of ourselves," said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chairwoman of the water, parks and wildlife committee. She called the chances of approval "very slim."
The department apparently does not need approval for funding the canal project. Its contractors, a group of water districts from the
At a news conference Wednesday, the governor called the water supply situation a statewide crisis but added he would continue to work with Democrats.
"We are all going to work together. I'm not off doing anything," he said.
Support for a peripheral canal has grown in the past year after the failure of a comprehensive water management and environmental program, launched in 2000, to fix the Delta ecosystem and stabilize water supplies.
The Delta's fish populations are crashing, and its levees are vulnerable to earthquakes and collapse. In an unprecedented move, a court last year cut water deliveries to protect an endangered fish, which has not yet rebounded.
State water officials say that 25 years after voters rejected the original
Canal supporters say diverting water upstream would reduce the number of fish killed at giant pumps near
But, by depriving the Delta of a fresh water flows from the Sierra snowpack, the canal diversion could lead to much higher pollution in the Delta, the sole source of drinking water for 500,000 Contra Costa residents.
At least three planning processes are under way that lend support, in varying degrees, to a canal. A Delta Vision task force is considering a new aqueduct but its proposal, which could be unveiled this summer, appears likely to include potentially strict caveats and conditions.
Another study, a risk assessment commissioned by the water resources department, suggests an earthquake could cause the state's plumbing system to fail.
Finally, a plan to comply with endangered species laws being negotiated primarily by regulators and water users is moving along fast and could end up recommending a new canal.
Machado said the governor was latching on to the endangered species solution.
"He (Schwarzenegger) is proposing to go after a solution that is one of the proposals and saying this is the answer using off-budget dollars," said Machado, referring to contractors' dollars that are not subject to legislative approval.
"He's pre-empting the process."
Jerry Johns, deputy director of the Department of Water Resources, said the need for planning is urgent but added, "just because we're planning it, doesn't mean it's going to get built.
"You can't make any choice until you have an environmental document and that will take years," Johns added.
He said a formal decision to build a canal could be made by the department in late 2010 at earliest and construction could be done as early as 2015. #
No end run on '
Posted By Michael Gardner, Copley News Service
State Senate Democrats have pounced, saying they are "shocked" that Schwarzenegger would consider resorting to an end-run right after face-to-face water meetings produced promises to foster compromise on reserves and a canal.
Suggestions of an executive order to start the environmental studies for a canal without approval of the Legislature and without an extensive look at other issues "simply enflames old sectional passions and suspicions," top Democrats wrote in a letter to Schwarzenegger Wednesday.
Various conveyance proposals have been dogged by the ghost of the "
Schwarzenegger sought to defuse the dust-up Wednesday, telling reporters that "I'm not off doing anything." He added later, "Right now I have no plans" to push ahead with the directive.
The letter also warned that Democrats "find it difficult to negotiate seriously ... in view of this."
Signing the letter were Senate leader Don Perata of
As further evidence of a possible scheme to bypass lawmakers, the trio also cite the governor's bid in the 2008-09 budget to fund eight new positions to work on conveyance and an agency letter that claims the Department of Water Resources has "broad authority and discretion" to construct facilities under current law.
Feinstein, a Democrat, came to the Capitol last week at the invitation of Schwarzenegger to help broker a deal on an approximately $11 billion bond that would include funding for new storage, environmental projects and conservation. A second round of high-level talks may be held next week.
Republicans also want the bond to contain explicit authority to build a new conveyance system, although
Following is the transcript of the governor's response to reporter questions:
Q: Governor, a quick question. Can you talk about the peripheral canal? There's been a lot of talk that you may sign some sort of an Executive Order to begin work on diverting water around the Delta to create more supply in
GOVERNOR: Well, I'm very proud to say that we have for the last 18 months all worked together very hard, all the stakeholders, Democrats and Republicans, to come up with a solution to improve our infrastructure on water, because right now we cannot guarantee the people of California water in the future, if it is 10, 15 years from now, we cannot guarantee that.
We have seen already a one-year drought, and we have most of our reservoirs are down by 50 to 75 percent, so we are really in a crisis situation. We have seen water prices go up, we have seen that permits for businesses and building have been denied because of a lack of water and so on. So it's hurting our economy, it's hurting everyday folks out there in
And this is why we recommend to redo that infrastructure and to build the new infrastructure on water, to build more above the ground and below the ground water storage, to fix the Delta once and for all, and to build a new delivery system. And we are in the middle of negotiating right now. We were very happy that Senator Feinstein came out last week and helped us with the negotiations, and it kind of inspired everyone again to go in there.
So we're going to all work together. I'm not off doing anything. I'm right now working with everybody and bringing everyone together to make sure that re rebuild our water system so that we can guarantee people not only 20 years from now but 30, 40, 50 years from now water, so when they turn on the faucet there is water coming out, when the farmers turn on and want to irrigate their land, there is water coming out. That's what I want to guarantee.
Q: Governor, can we expect an Executive Order from your office in the next week or so?
GOVERNOR: Right now I have no plans, but I will let you know. As you know, we are like an open book, and everything that is developing in our office, you will always know about it. Thank you very much. Thank you. #
http://weblog.signonsandiego.com/news/breaking/2008/02/no_end_run_on_peripheral_canal.html
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