Democrats focus on the Delta; Republicans say a more comprehensive fix is needed

From the Ventura County Star:

Rather than rush ahead with plans to build two dams and expand an existing one, as Schwarzenegger suggests, the chairwoman of the Assembly’s water committee said this week the state should instead focus all its immediate attention on fixing California’s most important water resource, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. “The delta is dying; that is the immediate crisis, and that’s where the money should go,” said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chairwoman of the Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee.

Advocates of the delta-first approach have an important, and somewhat surprising, urban ally: the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies water to 18 million Southern Californians. The district has made delta restoration its No. 1 priority, and the head of the agency that distributes imported water in Ventura County says addressing environmental problems in the delta is more urgent than building new dams.

“We need to move forward incrementally,” said Don Kendall, general manager of the Calleguas Municipal Water District in Thousand Oaks. “We have to take care of the delta.”

Republicans feel that a more comprehensive fix is necessary:

Supporters of Schwarzenegger’s approach, including business and agricultural leaders, say delta restoration is necessary but must be accompanied with more aggressive actions to increase water storage and improve the flow of water from north to south.

Assembly Republican leader Mike Villines of Clovis noted that voters have approved multiple bond measures in recent years to finance habitat restoration, improve watersheds and make other environmental improvements. Those have been sold to voters as “water bonds,” he said, but they haven’t increased the state’s capacity to store and deliver water.

“They’ve hoodwinked Californians and gotten money for environmental restoration,” he said. “I’m not interested in putting out a bond that’s a half-fix.”

The state Senate will begin hearings next week and consider three issues: Schwarzenegger’s $9 billion bond proposal, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata’s $5 billion bond proposal, and plans for spending already-approved bond money for delta restoration.

To read the full text of this article from the Ventura County Star, click here.

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