North-South Agreement: Editorials Harmonize on Water Policy Recommendation as Key Bill to be Voted on Monday

By Traci Sheehan
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League

Just one week after Northern California's Sacramento Bee highlighted AB 2153 (Krekorian) as one of the most promising ways to meet California's water needs, the Los Angeles Times gave Krekorian's concept a Southern California boost in a separate editorial this Monday.

AB 2153 (Krekorian) requires developers to install cost effective water conservation measures in new residential and commercial developments. It also requires that developers further mitigate any remaining water use through implementation of water use efficiency measures in existing buildings or the development of environmentally beneficial, greenhouse gas emission-reducing, local water supplies.

The LA Times editorial endorsed an approach similar to AB 2153, stating, "Just as (developers) front funds to install the pipes that connect new communities to public water systems, they could become a source of funding for conservation technologies and recycled water infrastructure in existing and new communities."

The two editorials reflect a growing recognition that California's water supplies are limited, and a building momentum for sound approaches, such as AB 2153, that allow California to maintain water supply reliability while accommodating growth, sustaining a healthy economy, and preserving our environment.

In addition to the editorials, AB 2153 was featured in the LA Times' week-long blog on California water. In this series, PCL's Water Program Manager, Mindy McIntyre has been going toe to toe with Department of Water Resources head, Lester Snow debating solutions for our water future. The blog is still going.

The Assembly Natural Resources Committee will hear AB 2153 on Monday, April 14th. It's scheduled to be heard in the Assembly Housing Committee two days later.

Traci Sheehan is the Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League, a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization. For more than thirty years, PCL has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in California that is the best in the United States. PCL staff review virtually every environmental bill that comes before the California Legislature each year. It has testified in support or opposition of thousands of bills to strengthen California's environmental laws and fight off rollbacks of environmental protections.

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