The California Water World Sees A Tidal Change!
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
Tuesday night, or more accurately, Wednesday morning, the California Legislature passed a series of bills aimed at solving the long running “Bay-Delta Water Issue”. The package of bills is on its way to the Governor’s desk for his signature. Governor Schwarzwenegger has announced he will sign the historic legislative package. So, what did the Legislature do? In simple terms, here’s my synopsis.
The Legislature passed a five bill package of new laws. Each of these new laws is focused on a specific area of water regulation. They are:
SBx7-1 – A comprehensive new governance structure that will oversee nearly all activities, agencies and regulations within the “Bay-Delta Region”. This bill deals with land use, water rights, environmental and conveyance issues. This bill is the heart of the legislation.
SBx7-2 – A comprehensive bond bill, asking the voters of California to approve $11.14 billion of state general obligation bonds to finance a wide variety of improvements, enhancements, storage, conveyance and environmental protection projects. This bond will be put to the voters of California in November of 2010.
SBx7-6 – A bill requiring groundwater monitoring and reporting requirements and initiating fiscal penalties for failure to do so. This bill raises the level of scrutiny and protection for groundwater basins.
SBx7-7 – A bill requiring all water users in California to practice conservation and efficiency uses of water through new water management and efficiency plans. This bill creates water awareness programs for all Californians.
SBx7-8 – A bill to increase water protection programs through new regulations to stop illegal diversions of water and provide penalties for enforcement. This bill also provides about $4.2 million, through existing funds, to support enforcement programs.
That is it in a nutshell. When you look at the pieces, it all seems quite simple and you have to ask “Why did this take so long?” The simple answer is politics. The real answer is an age old adage: “Whiskey is for drinking. Water is for fighting!”
Whether this “landmark legislation” is the answer to California’s water problems will all be decided by the details. First and foremost, is the detail of funding this program. Without the passage of the November 2010 Water Bond, the promise of the legislation is greatly in danger. Assuming the voters of California will support the “Bay-Delta Solution”, then the devil in the details will fall on the new governance structure. The new governance program will the critical body that moves forward to implement this legislation. The politics will be overwhelming. The stakeholders are numerous, vociferous, and dangerous. So, if you thought the fighting over the language of the bills was nasty, you haven’t seen anything yet!
Let’s celebrate the “landmark legislation” for a little longer, but then it is time to get to the real work of fixing the Bay-Delta delivery system, eco system and regulatory system.
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