Water Package Passes, Northern California Ignored

It’s getting harder and harder for me to explain the actions of my colleagues in the State Legislature, especially after I leave the State Capitol at 6:15 in the morning last Thursday after having been in session for a full day and a half on the subject of water.

The State Legislature passed a package of bills relating to water supply and protection of the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta. I had to vote “no” on all six of the bills.

One was a new governance structure for the Delta that puts the decision making authority for building a peripheral canal in several new agencies, the main one of which is made up of gubernatorial appointees, rather than elected officials.

Another is a long sought water bond that grew from $9.9 billion to $11.1 billion after 4 o’clock in the morning without a single public hearing. It contains $3 billion for above ground storage projects (dams), but also contains pork barrel spending on dozens of state conservancies and environmental projects that we cannot afford in this time of severe fiscal constraint.

Also included is a water rights measure that increases the ability of state water bureaucrats and investigators to pry into the way farmers and ranchers run their operations. Another bill also increases the oversight state water agencies have over underground aquifers and the methods urban and rural water districts engage to utilize and recharge this source of water.

Probably the worst policy passed in this package is a one-size-fits-all requirement for everyone in California to conserve 20 percent more water than they are currently using. Unbelievably, the measure provides exemptions for San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Ana, and Monterey from the requirements.

In short, what this package does is provide a mechanism to send more water to the Central Valley and Southern California, provide billions to try to undo the environmental damage done to the Delta, and increase costs on the people of Northern California to increase the supply of water necessary to meet the “co-equal” goals of protecting the Delta and providing a reliable supply of water to all residents of the state. By placing new requirements on the way all of us in Northern California manage and use our water resources in what are called the “areas of origin,” this is a substantial threat to our traditional water rights.

As complex as this issue is, very few people knew the details of the legislation the Senate and Assembly were voting on over two days of late-night sessions. They were all negotiated in private meetings and were never given full legislative hearings in policy committees where legislators could debate the measures, propose amendments, and receive public comment. Read Full Story