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Schwarzenegger and Feinstein Offer Up Another Round Of Water Bond Talks, Legislature Responds With Timely Water Package
By Traci Sheehan
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League
Last Wednesday Governor Schwarzenegger and California Senator Diane Feinstein unveiled yet another iteration of a multi-billion dollar water bond, and urged the legislature to take action to place the water bond on the November 2008 ballot.
This new $9.2 billion proposal was presented as a "compromise." Indeed, their proposal is $2.6 billion less than the Governor's last proposal. However, this latest proposal still contains many of the most controversial elements of previous failed attempts to put together a water bond.
Most notably, the measure includes provisions that would limit future legislative oversight for water storage projects and projects affecting the Bay Delta, including the unprecedented continuous appropriation of $3 billion for water storage projects. If approved, the water bond would bypass the legislature and grant allocation authority to the defunct California Water Commission (which is a commission entirely appointed by the Governor and which currently has no appointed members).
The proposal also includes confusing language that seems to limit the Legislature's ability to engage in a solution to fix the Delta by requiring a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to change or amend any portion of the proposal's directives regarding the Delta.
The Legislature has responded with a water package of its own that does not include a new water bond. President pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland) and Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) announced Monday they will push a two-bill package including SB 1XX which would allocate existing funding to improve water storage and enhance water reliability, and AB 2175 (Laird/Feuer) which would establish requirements to reduce per capita water use in the state by 20% by 2020.
While the jury is still out on Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Feinstein's proposal, the Planning and Conservation League, as well as several other environmental, fishing and environmental justice organizations support the legislative package proposed by Senator Perata and Assemblywoman Bass. Both SB 1XX and AB 2175 provide timely solutions to ease the water challenges facing California.
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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