New top of the scroll: Lawmakers on wrong track for water deal, says editorial: “The governor and legislative leaders need to focus first on restoring the health of the delta and then supplying a steady supply of water to Californians in the most fair and equitable fashion possible”

Whoops, missed a few… From the Silicon Valley Mercury News, this editorial:

“As negotiations over a water reform plan come down to the wire, California legislative leaders are dithering over the wrong details.

They should be working on how to maximize water conservation, not only by urban users but also by agriculture. They should be trying to lower the cost of a multibillion-dollar bond, which now not only would pay for badly needed work on the flood-prone Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta but also would finance dams that aren’t needed and would damage the environment.

Instead, the governor and lawmakers are haggling over penalties for water theft and for urban water districts that don’t meet conservation targets. If they’re not careful, they’ll end up with a spending package that California voters will reject, wasting all the work this year and sending everyone back to the drawing board. That would be a tragedy, given the magnitude of the delta water crisis.

The delta, 50 miles northeast of San Jose, supplies a portion of the water supply for more than 20 million Californians and provides more than half of Silicon Valley’s water supply. Its ecological health is critical not only for drinking water but to sustain economic growth. Yet it is just an earthquake away from becoming a disaster of Hurricane Katrina proportions. …”

Read more from the Silicon Valley Mercury News by clicking here.

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