Major components of water overhaul pass Senate
Published 4:00 am, Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The California Senate on Monday approved major portions of a plan to overhaul the state's water system, putting the Legislature close to agreement after years of discussions about updating the aging infrastructure.
Legislative leaders say their proposals create "coequal goals" of a more reliable water supply system for the state and a restored ecosystem in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The Senate approved a $9.99 billion bond, a new state agency for the delta and a strict water conservation mandate.
State leaders "know that a long history of benign neglect has not served the delta or our state well," said Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, who sponsored the first bill approved by the Senate. The measure, SB7X 1, was approved on a 29-5 vote and creates a new state agency to oversee the delta that could approve a controversial peripheral canal.
The proposal was divided into a series of bills on the major points of the plan: the new state agency, 20 percent mandatory conservation for urban areas, new monitoring of groundwater use, increased penalties for illegal water diversions and the $9.99 billion bond. The Senate was still voting on the remaining measures Monday night and the Assembly had yet to consider any of the proposals.
Three billion dollars of the bond money would go for water storage projects that could include dams. An additional $2.25 billion would go to restoring the delta ecosystem. The bond also would fund water supply reliability projects throughout the state, conservation and watershed protection efforts, groundwater protection and water recycling projects.
Voters would have to approve the bond, which could be a tough sell if the state's budget continues to deteriorate.
Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, opposed the bond and the other measures and knocked Senate leaders for conducting some negotiations behind closed doors and without more people from the delta.
"Every generation tries to fix the delta, and every time it's without the people who work there, live there and recreate there," Wolk said.
But state leaders warn that the system of levees and canals in the delta is susceptible to collapse in a natural disaster such as an earthquake. If that happens, the two-thirds of the state's population that relies on the delta for water could lose access to it.
The bond does not include money for a peripheral canal to divert water around the delta to pumps that supply Southern California with water. Water agencies in the south have said they would fund the canal themselves.
Such a canal could be authorized by the Delta Stewardship Council, a new seven-member state body appointed by the governor and legislative leaders.
For the conservation target, the legislation gives credits to urban areas like San Francisco and Los Angeles that already have made significant conservation efforts.