[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 6/10/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

June 10, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

Editorial:

Salton Sea's salvation restson stalled funding appropriation

The Desert Sun

 

Fred Keeley: For ocean to thrive, balance is in order

Sacramento Bee

 

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Editorial:

Salton Sea's salvation restson stalled funding appropriation

The Desert Sun – 6/10/08

 

Just because the state Senate killed a bill to create the framework for restoration of the Salton Sea doesn't mean the plan to fix the sea is dead.

Four things can happen now:

 

Preliminary restoration can and should move forward with or without Senate Bill 1256. While the framework is needed and a bill to create a new oversight agency should continue to be pursued, initial decisions can be managed from Sacramento because more than $10 million is in next year's budget to move forward with some aspects of restoration.

 

A new bill should be pushed forward and the other bill that goes with SB 1256 should be passed out of Appropriations, where it has been stuck.

 

The Legislature and governor must make the funding available to start restoration because it was the will of the voters.

 

Every candidate running for the Legislature now should have to prove to voters what he or she is going to do to fix this problem.

 

In addition, a delegation from the Coachella and Imperial valleys, made up of our cities' mayors and other leaders, should pay Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger a visit so he doesn't forget what we have at risk here.

 

Unfortunately, the state Legislature has not made the Salton Sea a priority. It must be a priority because it's shrinking and in danger of becoming a dust bowl that will release harmful toxins into the air.

 

The bill, along with scores of other measures, did not pass out of the Senate Appropriations Committee late last month because the bills were projected to add new costs at a time when the state is experiencing a budget crisis.

 

While we agree that the state should be prudent, especially with ongoing operation expenses, voters have set aside money by voting for this funding measure. The voters already approved funds in the budget, federal money to match it is waiting in the wings, and we shouldn't allow the Legislature to stifle voters' wishes.

 

"It is irresponsible not to allocate money the voters approved," said Rick Daniels, former executive director of the Salton Sea Authority.

 

Voters approved $46 million in 2006 to restore the Salton Sea, California's largest lake, because the water salinity is increasing and the sea is shrinking. It will recede considerably by 2018, when water transfers will halt agricultural runoff for the most part.

 

But two years have passed and nothing is being done. Of that money, about $10.3 million is in the proposed 2008-09 budget, earmarked for early restoration work. That money can be spent without the bill and it should, but what about the other $38 million? The state legislature is stalled in making the needed appropriations and a federal match of $30 million that was hard fought for by Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is a Rancho Mirage resident, and Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, remains unused.

 

Part of the problem is that it will take millions to restore the Salton Sea. Experts also point to the fact that the lake is far away from more populated areas that seem to get more immediate attention. But this area is important to the state. Negative impact from the dying Salton Sea will not only harm wildlife and our health, but it will hurt the statewide economy when tourists stop visiting.

 

SB 1256, which would have created a new agency that included local control to oversee the restoration, never even came up for a vote. It was just allowed to die because the state is about $17 billion in the red.

 

We understand that every dollar not spent goes to help show a balanced budget, but the voters approved a funding measure and the sea is dying now. Something has to be done soon, or we face devastation from the sea's environmental and economic impacts.

 

SB 187 is the other piece of the puzzle that would release the rest of the funding. Also sponsored by Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, the bill remains stalled in the Appropriations Committee.

 

While we strongly back the creation of an organization with federal, state and local representation, we also believe that time is a factor and the restoration can still get under way via state oversight in Sacramento and it should. That's not to say we don't need that framework to provide ongoing management for the next 75 years. We do and Ducheny has to come back at it harder than before.

 

Ducheny's push on this issue is of paramount importance. She will soon be termed out of office in 2010 - the same year the governor ends his second term - and we stand to lose her influence as chair of the powerful budget committee. She's been a champion on this issue, but we need her to work harder and we need the Republicans to come around on this issue. We need Schwarzenegger to see that doing nothing will severely impact more than 700,000 people in the Coachella and Imperial valleys.#

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080610/OPINION01/806100318/1026/news12

 

Fred Keeley: For ocean to thrive, balance is in order

Sacramento Bee – 6/10/08

By Fred Keeley - Special to The Bee

Fred Keeley is the Santa Cruz County treasurer and a former California state assemblyman for the 27th District. He is also an appointee of the secretary of resources to the California Ocean Science Trust.

 

On Sunday, the world celebrated Ocean Day – an event that, when it debuted in 1992, marked the beginning of a tidal shift in the way we view our ocean resources. On Wednesday in Sacramento, California will take ocean protection to the next step when the California Fish and Game Commission reviews proposals for unprecedented ocean protection on our north-central coast.

 

In previous decades, the water off California's coast was managed based on abundance – our ocean was viewed as vast and limitless, and the goal was to take advantage of its resources to the fullest extent. As California's population grew, so too did pressures on our state's fish and ocean habitats. By the 1990s, it was clear that our ocean policy should be based on the threat of scarcity. We began to understand that in order for our abundant fish and wildlife to remain plentiful into the future, thoughtful, science-based, precautionary management was needed.

 

State leaders responded by crafting legislation designed to keep our ocean waters vibrant for the next generations. This foresight led to the passage of two landmark laws, the Marine Life Management Act and the Marine Life Protection Act, in 1998 and 1999 respectively, which I helped author and move through the state Legislature. These two laws made it state policy to manage California's ocean riches sustainably and with a mandate of protection. As a result of that legislation, the state is now moving forward to create a network of Marine Protected Areas up and down the coast. Based on sound science and community input, these underwater parks will help protect our dwindling ocean resources.

 

By all indications, our oceans are at risk. Both the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission have reported in recent years on the numerous, serious threats facing our oceans and the need to address those threats immediately. Marine scientists tell us that Marine Protected Areas, in conjunction with other efforts, can reverse the trend of diminishing ocean life.  Making ocean management decisions in California is no easy job. Ours is a large and diverse coast, and there are many voices that must be considered. The California Fish and Game Commission has worked through these challenges to create science-based networks of Marine Protected Areas along the Central Coast and in the Channel Islands off of Santa Barbara. When the commission meets Wednesday, its task is to prioritize rebuilding and conserving special and threatened places in our ocean, and also to find a fair balance between conservation and use.

 

Fortunately, the commission can draw upon a successful public process and rigorous scientific input as it makes its decision. Over the past year, a stakeholder group made up of coastal community members, educators, divers, fishermen and conservation interests has worked diligently to develop proposals for Marine Protected Areas for the state to consider. In April, a governor-appointed blue ribbon task force carefully considered this input and recommended adoption of a middle-ground proposal that reflected the input of all stakeholders. The task force plan would greatly improve protection of California's coast with very modest estimated economic impacts on current ocean users.

 

If we do it right – and I am confident that we can – California's Marine Protected Areas will create a lasting legacy of ocean preservation that all Californians can look back on with pride.

 

But it isn't enough to set the standard – you have to get others to join you. That's why Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman have created a coast-wide partnership with Oregon and Washington. Together the Pacific Coast states are committed to a healthy, productive ocean for our children.

Here in California, we've shown foresight by recognizing the challenges our ocean faces and by creating good policy to face them. Now we need to follow up on the promise of the law by protecting our special ocean places and committing adequate resources for the long-term management and enforcement of our new marine protected areas. Together we can work to extend these protections to the offshore species and habitats of our state's national marine sanctuaries. After all, we have a responsibility, as stewards of this shared public trust, to leave our ocean in as good or better shape than we found it.#

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/1001184.html

 

Editorial: Capitol suffers drought of ideas

Chico Enterprise-Record-6/10/08

We're about to get answers to two questions that get asked again and again in this state.

 

First, do we need new reservoirs in California, or can we really conserve enough water to make new lakes unnecessary?

 

Second, when cities and farmers both want scarce water, do farmers automatically lose?

 

We've been saying for years that the state needs to get serious about building off-stream storage reservoirs, like the one that has been discussed and studied for ages in the Sites Valley west of Maxwell.

 

That reservoir seems no closer to being built today than it was 10 or 20 years ago. Democrats in the Legislature staunchly oppose new reservoirs just about anywhere, even in a place like Sites where a river system would not be dammed. (Instead, water would flow into the reservoir from the Sacramento River system when runoff is high.)

 

Water, like most commodities, is all about supply and demand. As the state's population grows and the water supply does not, a train wreck is looming. Some people say we can conserve our way toward a bright water future, but that seems overly optimistic.

 

We may find out in the next couple of summers whether conservation alone will work.

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought Wednesday, the first statewide drought declaration since 1991. Schwarzenegger said the state would speed water transfers to areas with the worst shortages, would help farmers who suffer losses and would help local water districts with conservation efforts.

 

The governor said he would name two "water czars," one to coordinate conservation and the other to speed water transfers around the state.

 

We're still not sure what all that means, but we have our suspicions — mainly, that Lake Oroville will get a lot lower as north state water is sent south, and that farmers stand a better chance of getting disaster assistance than their usual allotment of water used for growing crops.

 

This is where a coherent water policy would come in handy. Instead of pitting north against south, farms against cities and Republicans against Democrats, we'd at least feel better because the state is working on the problem.

 

There's no doubt conservation will help. But even if every household in the state cut water use by 10 percent, eventually we'll need to figure out how to store more water.

 

At the same time, we have to protect our food supply and the north state's agricultural way of life. Taking water from agriculture and moving it around the state only enables poorly planned communities. If people would quit building communities in arid places with no water supply, we wouldn't have a problem.

Let's hope this new conservation czar, whatever that is, can enlighten the masses. But until legislators get to work and approve more water storage, this problem won't go away.#

http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/ci_9535611

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