October 03, 2007

CVWD Urges Sacramento to Get Water Bond on Ballot

Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) is encouraging state lawmakers, the governor and others attempting to resolve California's water crisis to abandon partisan politics in favor of developing a single bond measure that will be acceptable to voters as early as February.

Seven water-related bills have been introduced by legislators since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called lawmakers into special session. To qualify for the February presidential primary election, a bill placing a bond measure on the ballot must be approved by the legislature and signed by the governor no later than Oct. 16, according to Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

Rather than endorse “competing” bills introduced on behalf of the Republican governor or Democrat Senate President pro Tem Don Perata, the district's board of directors last week unanimously adopted a resolution (http://www.cvwd.org/resolution.pdf) that urged bipartisan solutions. The Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee was scheduled to begin hearings Thursday, but those reportedly have been postponed.

“No single piece of legislation offers all of the solutions to our current crisis,” explained CVWD General Manager-Chief Engineer Steve Robbins, “but we cannot afford to wait for the ‘perfect bill' with respect to water. The Bay-Delta is on the verge of collapse. We have drought statewide and along the Colorado River. The state's existing conveyance and reservoir facilities are inadequate to move and store enough water to meet the environmental, urban and agricultural needs of California.

“We estimate that a federal judge's ruling to protect an endangered fish will result in the loss of between 30,000 acre-feet (9.8 billion gallons) and 80,500 acre-feet (26.25 billion gallons) of State Water Project water delivered to Coachella Valley. Although this water is used for groundwater recharge and not delivered directly to homes or businesses, the amount lost is equal to a significant portion of the water provided in the valley to domestic consumers.”

Reduced pumping of water from the Bay Delta into State Water Project facilities is expected to go into effect in December and continue at least through June 2008 to protect the Delta smelt.

As part of its on-going, progressive conservation efforts, CVWD recently adopted a revised ordinance that reduces the amount of water new and refurbished landscaping can consume; cuts down on the amount of turf new golf courses can install, mandates “smart” irrigation controllers for new homes; and requires such residences to incorporate features that significantly reduce water runoff into streets and gutters.

Such regulations, however, might not be enough if imported water deliveries continue to be reduced drastically or if they become unreliable. New development depends upon the availability of imported sources to meet water availability requirements. Robbins has warned that development could be slowed or halted if State Water Project water deliveries become unreliable.

If lawmakers can resolve their differences and agree on a bond measure, two-thirds of voters casting their ballots will have to approve it for it to go into effect. The bill introduced on behalf of the governor calls for expenditures slightly higher than $9 billion; Perata's legislation is for $5.8 billion. Both measures include funding to address the Bay-Delta's ecological conditions and money to improve urban and agricultural water deliveries. The most significant difference is that the costlier measure has significant funding for large surface reservoirs, which would require the construction of dams.