Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
March 3, 2008
1. Top Items
Delta plans taking shape; Governor unveils seven proposals while water officials gear up for study - Contra Costa Times
Column:
Governor's wild water week - Stockton Record
Water usage might tighten; Governor suggests cutting 20% over the next 12 years - Stockton Record
Editorial: A water plan emerges; Governor has a new, improved agenda - Sacramento
Delta plans taking shape; Governor unveils seven proposals while water officials gear up for study
Contra Costa Times – 3/1/08
By Mike Taugher, staff writer
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger laid out a sweeping plan to address statewide water problems and the environmental decline in the Delta in response to charges this week from incensed lawmakers who said he was moving unilaterally to build a controversial aqueduct.
His letter to leading senators comes as state water officials plan in the coming weeks to take the first steps toward developing an environmental study of the aqueduct, a canal that would divert water around the Delta to large pumps that supply farms in the
But that environmental study will consider other alternatives for moving water south and is part of a larger set of initiatives, Schwarzenegger told lawmakers.
"Please know that I will continue to work with the Legislature and all stakeholders to develop a comprehensive solution to the crisis in the Delta, and I will act on administrative measures in a transparent manner at the appropriate time," the governor wrote.
Schwarzenegger was reacting to a letter Wednesday from three state senators who were infuriated by the administration's insistence that it does not need legislative approval to build the aqueduct, commonly known as a peripheral canal.
The three senators -- Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland; Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento; and Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden -- appeared somewhat reassured Friday.
"We're encouraged that the letter signifies he's going to take a more comprehensive approach," said Perata spokeswoman Alicia Trost.
The governor laid out seven elements of what he said is a comprehensive solution in the Delta:
- A previously unannounced goal to control the growing demand for water by reducing per capita use by 20 percent by 2020. The plan would likely include programs to increase the number of efficient toilets, washing machines and improve the efficiency of outdoor landscaping.
- Evaluate Delta floodplains for potential flood bypass zones that, like pressure relief valves, could reduce flood danger in other areas. The governor is also calling for updates to Delta land use plans, which could restrict new construction in the Delta, a 738,000-acre triangle with corners at
- Improve disaster readiness in the Delta by stockpiling levee repair material and ensuring equipment and other resources are ready in a flood.
- Speed numerous small environmental initiatives that can be done relatively cheaply. Small Delta pumps could be better screened to protect fish, for example.
- Direct the State Water Resources Control Board to come up with a more comprehensive plan to reduce water pollution.
- Start a comprehensive analysis of how best to move water through the Delta. The study, which would probably take at least two years to complete, would examine doing nothing, building a peripheral canal, constructing a smaller aqueduct that would be used in conjunction with the existing system and fortifying levees to channel water through the Delta.
- Complete feasibility studies of three dams, including the expansion of Los Vaqueros reservoir between Brentwood and
Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said Friday that in the next two or three weeks, his department would issue a notice that would kick off a sweeping environmental study of how best to move water from the Sacramento River to the pumps near
Months of public meetings would likely follow.
The study is needed because the conflict between water needs and the Delta ecosystem has reached the breaking point. The Delta's fish populations have crashed, with at least partial blame attributed to the large amount of water pumped out of the Delta.
In response to the environmental crisis and subsequent court restrictions on water deliveries, agencies that rely on water pumped out of the Delta have called for a new method of delivering water to the pumps. The most controversial of those methods is the peripheral canal, which voters rejected in 1982.
Although a canal would reduce the number of fish killed at Delta pumps and improve the quality of water drawn out, it could also lead to a much more polluted Delta because it could deprive the estuary of fresh water.
The environmental study will look at those potential impacts and its conclusions will be used to compare various options.
Snow's agency has asked lawmakers to approve the hiring of eight new positions -- including engineers, environmental scientists and a land agent -- to help with the environmental study. But he said that even without lawmakers' approval, the department could complete the study by contracting for that work.
The department is largely funded by water user fees that are not subject to legislative control. #
Column:
By Dan Walters, columnist
It's been nearly three decades since
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, then-Gov. Jerry Brown, in alliance with Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, mounted a drive to build a "peripheral canal" to transport
The Brown-Bradley alliance found itself at war with a strange-bedfellows coalition of environmentalists and San Joaquin Valley agribusiness corporations, the former opposed to expanding water exports and the latter opposed to the restrictions that Brown had hoped would placate environmental groups.
The battle raged for months, with acrimonious committee hearings and heated floor debates. On one night, the peripheral canal bill faced a committee whose decisive vote would be cast by a senator who was a notorious lush. A
It cost Brown a state office building to get one key vote, but he finally moved the bill through the Legislature. The opposition coalition immediately challenged it via referendum and in 1982 persuaded voters to reject the canal.
The peripheral canal battle made subsequent governors and legislatures leery of approaching
Schwarzenegger wants to revive the peripheral canal, which is probably still the best solution to the interrelated problems of maintaining deliveries while protecting the Delta's fragile environment. The courts have been ordering reductions in pumping out of the Delta to protect endangered fish species, creating much angst among water agencies south of the Delta.
Schwarzenegger created a task force to study the Delta, but has also moved to put the peripheral canal back on the agenda, alarming its many foes. Last week, after it was reported that Schwarzenegger might issue a unilateral order to begin preliminary work on a canal project, state Senate leaders urged him to back away, saying any such action would make it "difficult to negotiate seriously" on an overall water policy. For years, state water officials have contended that they have the authority under current law to build a peripheral canal without further legislative authorization.
Two days later, Schwarzenegger replied, insisting that he's not acting alone although warning that the Delta "is in jeopardy of collapsing without both immediate action and long-term solutions."
A coalition of business and agriculture groups, meanwhile, is working on a ballot measure that would bypass long-stalled negotiations in the Capitol on the peripheral canal and additional reservoirs, and environmentalists who oppose both are gearing up for a ballot war.
The war over water isn't so much about water as it is about competing visions of how
Chances are that Schwarzenegger's governorship will end without water being settled. At the moment, his most likely successor may be Jerry Brown, who has returned to politics as attorney general.
What goes around comes around. #
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/754740.html
Governor's wild water week
By Hank Shaw, Capitol Bureau Chief
On Feb. 21,
That same day, a group backed by Senate Leader Don Perata that is opposed to new dams began radio and television ads attacking a California Chamber of Commerce-financed ballot initiative that would include reservoir money.
This, by all accounts, did not help negotiations.
On Feb. 22, an administration official let it slip that Schwarzenegger might be considering an executive order jump-starting studies on a peripheral canal. This alarmed canal opponents, who gave notice that they would question Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman about the matter at the Natural Resources Committee hearing on Tuesday.
The Record reported the news of the potential executive order Tuesday, and the resources meeting became heated in a hurry. Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden; Senate Leader-to-be Darrell Steinberg; and Perata issued a public letter to the governor demanding answers.
Schwarzenegger said he has no intention of going it alone. Meanwhile, the chamber and its allies - one of whom is the governor - contemplated backing off their ballot initiative.
On Thursday, a scheduled meeting on water collapsed. Democrats said the governor canceled it, while the administration said the Democrats said they wouldn't show up. Hours later, the Chamber of Commerce announced it's going to hold off on gathering signatures for the ballot initiative, and a few hours after that, Schwarzenegger sent his response letter to Machado, Perata and Steinberg.
Everything back to normal? Wait until next week. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080301/A_NEWS/803010326/-1/A_NEWS
Water usage might tighten; Governor suggests cutting 20% over the next 12 years
By Hank Shaw, Capitol Bureau Chief
Chief among the governor's proposals is a call to cut water use in
Schwarzenegger also wants to begin stockpiling emergency supplies such as sand, rock and pilings to be used during the next flood. This is something San Joaquin County Emergency Services Director Ron Baldwin has been suggesting since 2005.
Another part of the governor's proposal will direct the state Department of Water Resources to quickly finish the feasibility studies on potential dams in Colusa and
While not technically an executive order, as had been rumored, Schwarzenegger's moves do not require legislative approval in the short term.
Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, was one of three senators who received the letter. Senate Leader Don Perata of
Machado said he welcomed the letter, especially after a stormy hearing Tuesday in which he sparred with Schwarzenegger's secretary of natural resources, Mike Chrisman.
"I think the governor has answered the questions that were not answered - but were asked - on Tuesday," Machado said. "But I am withholding any praise until I see some outcomes."
Machado also noted that most of Schwarzenegger's plans will require legislative approval - through the budget - over the long term, especially concerning conservation. Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said much of the new conservation measures will be paid for with the water bond money voters approved in 2006.
Snow said the money will, among other things, help encourage people to buy efficient appliances, retrofit old equipment at the municipal and state levels, and switch over to more drought-tolerant landscaping.
"I don't think it will affect anyone in that they'll have to go out and buy a new toilet or washing machine," Snow said.
"But when it's time to change, there will be incentives to go buy a low-flow toilet or whatever."
Machado noted that
"There's a tremendous opportunity here," Machado said.
Schwarzenegger's peripheral canal studies will look at options similar to those presented in a 2007 Public Policy Institute of California study: a canal, nothing, a system of "armored" levees to move water through the Delta, or the armored levees plus a narrow canal.
Machado said the letter helped, but he said a deal on a water-supply bond is still uncertain because the studies on the proposed dams haven't yet been finished, and the governor still wants free rein to spend the proceeds from the bond without legislative oversight.
"The underlying obstacle to a deal still remains," Machado said. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080301/A_NEWS/803010327/-1/A_NEWS03
Editorial: A water plan emerges; Governor has a new, improved agenda
Sacramento
The circular firing squad of
The ugliness started when a member of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's staff suggested the governor might issue an order to launch studies of a proposed peripheral canal through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That prompted Senate Democrats to accuse the governor of acting "unilaterally" even as he was vowing to work with them on a more comprehensive water package.
Whether his administration was engaged in bluster or just some bad parsing, Schwarzenegger felt compelled to clarify his position. Thus he laid out a broad water agenda Friday that was aimed at bringing combatants back from the brink.
Among the governor's proposals:
• A 20 percent reduction in per capita water use by 2020 through expanded conservation.
• Protection of critical floodplains in the Delta that are threatened by urban encroachment.
• A comprehensive program to improve water quality.
• Studies on a full range of options to improve water conveyance through the Delta.
• Expedited feasibility studies on three water reservoirs whose costs and benefits are not fully clear.
The governor's proposals could be stronger. One question is whether the state's agricultural sector – which accounts for about 80 percent of the state's water consumption – will be included in the governor's proposed conservation target.
There also needs to be an open and transparent process for studying conveyance options, and in ensuring that beneficiaries share in the costs.
But the governor has come a long way, at least publicly, from where he started. That offers the prospect of a legislative water package that, as of a week ago, appeared elusive. #
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/754775.html
####
No comments:
Post a Comment