Water overhaul looks like win for Valley farmers

Published online on Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

SACRAMENTO — Valley farmers scored big wins in the package of water bills state lawmakers passed Wednesday, but most of the benefits are years away — if they come at all.

Voters still must approve a key provision — an $11 billion bond for water projects, potentially including money for a dam east of Fresno. And a planned canal to move water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the Valley’s west-side farms faces regulatory and legal hurdles.

But on Wednesday, farm leaders were all smiles as they celebrated passage of proposals they had pushed for years without success.

“This legislative package establishes a clear path for the construction of water-supply infrastructure that is necessary to sustain the economy of this state,” said Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands Water District, whose 600 farms in western Fresno and Kings counties have struggled in the midst of the drought and pumping cutbacks at the delta.

Westlands was a key player in weeks of closed-door talks that led to Wednesday’s approval by the Legislature of the five-bill package. The measures include the bond, new mandates for conservation and groundwater monitoring, and creation of an agency to oversee the environmentally troubled delta, the state’s water hub.

The bills squeaked through the Assembly and Senate shortly before 6 a.m., after marathon sessions Monday and Tuesday that included arm-twisting and last-minute amendments to satisfy various interest groups.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders touted the deal as a historic compromise that ends decades of gridlock on state water policy that the governor called a “holy war.”

“This is a very bold vision that we have put forward here,” said the governor, who is expected to sign the bills next week.

But the deal likely will do little to solve the state’s immediate water challenges, and some of the long-term solutions in the bills bring as many questions as answers.

The biggest uncertainty is the fate of the bond that voters will take up in November 2010. More than double the size of the largest water bond in state history, the measure includes money for new storage, underground water banking, water recycling, regional projects and environmental upgrades in the delta.

Opposition is likely to come from some fiscal conservatives — who say the proposal is laden with nonessential spending — and unions, who fear the borrowing will rob money from other programs. Some environmental groups also are expected to fight it, including the Sierra Club, which opposes dams.

At its peak, the bond would cost the state up to $809.3 million in annual debt service, assuming a 30-year payment schedule, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Supporters likely will look to the Valley for votes because the bond potentially includes money for a new dam at Temperance Flat near Millerton Lake, a long-sought goal of east Valley farmers.

The project would compete for a chunk of $3 billion along with other storage projects, including other dams and possibly even ground-water banks. The bond would pay only for the “public benefit” portion of dams — such as the recreation provided by a reservoir — with users picking up the rest. If the bond passes, key decisions on the dam funding would be made by the governor-appointed California Water Commission.

Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, who wrote the bond bill, said he was confident the money would go to the dams, including Temperance Flat, which would take years to build and has an estimated price tag of $3 billion to $4 billion.