Legislature debates dams and Delta fix

Sierra Club California has been working a special session of the Legislature called by Gov. Schwarzenegger last September to deal with water issues, including restoring the Delta. The main action has centered on competing water-bond proposals that might be placed before voters in 2008, one backed by the governor and legislative Republicans and the other by Senate president pro tem Don Perata and the majority Democrats.

The governor's proposal, SBX2 3 (Cogdill), was a $9 billion water bond. It included $5.6 billion for dams and the authority for the state to build a canal around the Delta. This money for dams could be used to fund all or some of the construction costs for two new dams and expansion of
another. Perata also introduced a water bond: SBX2 2, which included $2 billion for regional grants to improve water-supply reliability, $2.4 billion for restoration projects in the Delta, $1 billion for water conservation, $1 billion for groundwater protection and water-quality programs, and $250 million for water recycling.

We opposed the governor's water bond because it focused mainly on building new dams, and required progress on a peripheral canal or some other form of conveyance around the Delta in order to access the restoration funding. Sierra Club California took no position on Perata's bond. Under his proposal, new dam projects would have been eligible to receive funding from the $2 billion side aside for water supply reliability, but dam proposals would have had to compete for funding with other projects.

Neither proposal passed the state Senate. Lawmakers clashed over how much money, if any, should go to build dams. Months passed with no action on water issues.

In an attempt to fill this void, the California Chamber of Commerce has crafted an initiative it intends to place on the November ballot to raise $11.6 billion for water projects. It includes money for new dams and for a canal around the Delta. Backed by developers and agricultural groups, the Chamber has not yet begun gathering signatures.

On Feb. 21 the governor and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein held a private meeting in Sacramento with state lawmakers in an attempt to restart negotiations in the legislature. Any bond would require 2/3 approval, needing both Democratic and Republican support. "The preferable route is a legislative solution," Feinstein said. "There has to be something bipartisan that comes out of this." Sierra Club California has been urging Feinstein and Schwarzenegger not to support the Chamber's water bond. Both support dams and additional water storage.

It remains to be seen if the legislature has the appetite for a water bond as the state is forced to deal with a $16 billion deficit. The legislature may not want to subsidize dam builders when cutting money to the elderly and shutting down parks. The state should spend money already approved by voters under Propositions 50, 84, and 1E for restoration in the Delta.

Sierra Club California believes that any water bond placed should include major investments in water conservation, water reclamation and recycling, and underground water storage. These investments will produce more water at less cost and with fewer impacts to the environment. Money should also be set aside for cleaning up water pollution and for the restoration of habitat. We will oppose any bond that includes money for fiscally and environmentally irresponsible dams. We also believe that the state must have a completed long-term strategy and implementation plan for restoring and protecting the Delta ecosystem before undertaking major new investments in the water-supply infrastructure there.

Sierra Club California will encourage voters throughout California to reject any water bond that facilitates Delta water diversions at current or increased levels or includes money for new dams.

Jim Metropulos, Sierra Club California