Water panel starts key legislative talks

State lawmakers scramble on bills.

Published online on Wednesday, Sep. 02, 2009

SACRAMENTO -- With the clock ticking and the odds against them, a panel of legislators began meeting Wednesday in search of solutions to the state's water problems.

The 14-member Assembly-Senate committee said it would meet through Labor Day weekend as it seeks consensus on bills that must be approved before the Legislature ends its regular session Sept. 11.

Democrats control the conference committee and could pass a plan without Republican support. But GOP votes would be needed on the Senate and Assembly floors for key elements of the package, potentially including a multibillion-dollar bond to pay for water projects such as dams.

The state faces a plethora of water problems.

A three-year drought has lowered water supplies for cities and farms. The shortage is compounded by environmental problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta -- the state's water hub -- which have led to water pumping cutbacks to protect fish. Meantime, underground aquifers are polluted, tainting drinking water for communities, including rural Valley towns.

But consensus on water legislation is hard to find because of simmering political and regional conflicts.

Farmers and environmentalists have long clashed over ecosystem protections. In the north, home to most of the state's water, residents fear a water grab by southern cities and San Joaquin Valley farms.

Sen. Sam Aanestad, a Republican from Penn Valley in Northern California, highlighted the conflict in his opening remarks: "I am not going to for one minute forget that the area that I represent ... has very different problems than the southern part of the state."

These tensions underlie 14 open issues Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, identified Wednesday.

For instance, lawmakers must decide how to pay for water upgrades. Republicans, especially those in the Valley, have pushed for a bond that would be paid back from the state's general fund. Democrats say they are open to a bond, but want to balance it with new water user fees.

Lawmakers also will consider changes in ground-water-use monitoring. Environmentalists want stronger reporting requirements, but farm groups fear big changes could lead to expensive fees.

Some farm groups have sought relief from delta pumping restrictions by asking Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to call for a federal panel, or "God Squad," that could potentially override environmental protections.

The governor's administration has resisted the call and completely ruled it out Wednesday. State Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow told reporters that such a call would "provide false hopes."

Rather, the administration is asking the federal government to make changes to new rules aimed at protecting endangered delta fish.

Steve Evans, of the environmental group Friends of the River, said the governor's administration wants to increase water exports "to their corporate agribusiness cronies and Southern California developers."