Water Bond
From: Steve Evans, Modesto Bee
In November, California voters
will be asked how much money they want to borrow to improve the state's water
infrastructure and fight the drought. Because polls show an $11.1 billion general
obligation bond on the Nov. 4 ballot is too expensive for many voters,
legislators are scrambling to revise the water bond to make it more palatable.
Along with the total amount,
another point of contention is how much is allotted to building new and
enlarging existing surface storage dams. The current bond and the $8.7 billion
version proposed by Senate Republicans include $3 billion for new and bigger
dams, but Gov. Jerry Brown's $6 billion proposal whittles this down to $2
billion. A coalition of environmental groups allocates $1 billion for surface
storage in its $6 billion plan.
Coalition response... Contrary to Evans' repetition of antiquated view of water storage dams,
for more than fifty years environmental interests have benefited from the many
advantages that our past investments in surface storage provide to our managed
waterways. Reservoirs have enabled us to meet the needs of fisheries, wetlands,
and meet other environmental water issues while seeking to meet the needs of
our cities, businesses and farms.
We only have to look at where water in our
rivers is coming from in the middle of this year's hot summer. It's not natural
flow. The water we see supporting wildlife resources in our rivers and the
Delta is coming from previously built upstream storage - storage that was built
specifically for the purpose of providing water during a time of the year when
nature can't.
Thankfully the legislature isn't falling for obstructionist
rhetoric this time and is taking seriously the need to build new storage
projects for California's growing economy. Wise investments will pay off down
the road as previous ones are now.
Water Bond
From: Sharon Bernstein,
Reuters
California Democrats scrambled on
Tuesday to win Republican support for a plan to improve water supplies that has
been mired in regional and party politics for a year, even as the state suffers
from a three-year drought that shows no sign of ending.
A day after voting for a two-day
extension to put a proposal on November's ballot to pay for reservoirs and
other projects by selling bonds, Democratic lawmakers enlisted the support and
negotiating clout of Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, a fiscal moderate who
said previous plans were too expensive.
From: Fenit NIrappil,
Associated Press
Pressed by a deadline and
California's severe drought, state lawmakers are scheduled to vote Wednesday on
a measure that would swap out an existing water bond on the November ballot and
authorize billions in borrowing to pay for new reservoirs, groundwater cleanup
and habitat restoration.
On Tuesday, lawmakers were
negotiating what they hoped would be a final agreement with Gov. Jerry Brown
for a plan that would boost the state's water supply while protecting the
environment. The governor and Democratic legislative leaders had agreed on a
$7.2 billion package to replace the existing, $11.1 billion bond, but
Republican lawmakers were pressing for more money for water storage.
From: Dan Walters, Sacramento
Bee
Chances are that sometime
Wednesday the Legislature will place a new water bond issue on the Nov. 4
ballot. But it's not certain, because as of late Tuesday, not all Democratic
legislators had signed onto a $7.2 billion plan and it still lacked votes it
needs from Republicans even if all Democrats were aboard.
From: Jessica Calefati, San
Jose Mercury News
Powerful voices in California's
water wars pledged their support Tuesday for a $7 billion state water bond that
lawmakers must pass before Wednesday's midnight deadline if they hope to see it
on the November ballot.
The California Farm Bureau
Federation and Los Angeles County's Metropolitan Water District had hoped for
at least $3 billion in the bond for construction of dams, reservoirs and other
storage projects.
From: Staff, Modesto Bee
The state's water bond will turn
into a rotten pumpkin if no deal is reached by Thursday's already extended
deadline. But legislators from the Northern San Joaquin Valley might just be
wearing glass slippers, if you'll forgive the fairytale metaphor.
Our state desperately needs a
water bond, but with urban Democrats squabbling, our legislators have a chance
to protect our region's water security.
From: Staff, Long Beach Press
Telegram
Like Goldilocks tasting the bowls
of purloined porridge, California voters have been looking for a water bond
that is not too dear, and not too cheap, but just right.
If our Legislature has waited
until not only the last minute - that was Monday - but created a new last
minute, which is Wednesday, to finalize the language and thus the proposed
scale of spending on a crucial water bond during this third year of statewide
drought, well, what else is new? Legislative leaders were able to push the
deadline for printing the argument for such a bond on millions of sample
ballots by 48 hours, and if it results in a bond measure with the number of
billions of dollars voters will approve and an appropriate scope of work that
will aid in drought relief, so be it.
Water Supply
From: Staff, Daily Mail - U.K.
Once-teeming Lake Mead marinas
are idle as a 14-year drought steadily drops water levels to historic lows.
Officials from nearby Las Vegas are pushing conservation, but are also drilling
a new pipeline to keep drawing water from the lake.
Hundreds of miles away, farmers
who receive water from the lake behind Hoover Dam are preparing for the worst.
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
Delta farmers have quietly sipped
from rivers and sloughs for generations, but they face increasing pressure this
drought year from outside interests who argue those water diversions are - or
may be - illegal.
State and federal officials late
last month asked regulators to use their emergency powers to demand information
from more than 1,000 of those farmers as to how much water they're using.
From: Bill Jennings &
Jerry Meral, Sacramento Bee
People who follow California's
water wars may wonder whether experts who disagree on the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan ever agree on anything at all. The answer is yes. We agree
it's time to protect 37 miles of the Central Sierra's Mokelumne River as a
state Wild and Scenic River.
Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Oakland,
introduced the legislation to protect the river, Senate Bill 1199, which is now
in the state Assembly. The legislation would bar new dams and diversions on 37
miles of the "Moke" between Salt Springs Dam and Pardee Reservoir and
protect the river's water quality. It has no relationship to the larger water
fights in the state but should be judged on its own merits.
Fisheries
From: Staff, Associated Press
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell
agreed to an impromptu meeting with salmon advocates demanding more water for
salmon in Northern California's Klamath and Trinity rivers.
After the Tuesday meeting in
Redding, California, salmon advocate Regina Chichizola said Jewell agreed to
send someone to assess the situation, but made no promises.
