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Water plan details

Published online on Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

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Here are components of the water package approved early this morning:

FINANCING
Borrows $11.14 billion to pay for dams, underground water banking, water recycling, Delta restoration and regional projects. Voters must approve the bond at the November 2010 election. It would cost the state about $800 million a year in debt service at its peak.

DELTA OVERSIGHT
Creates a seven-member council charged with adopting a long-range management plan for the environmentally troubled estuary by 2012. The plan would include strategies to boost the reliability of water exports while protecting the ecosystem.

CANAL
Does not authorize a long-envisioned canal to move water around the Delta southward. But the Delta council would incorporate the canal into its plans -- if it meets environmental standards.

CONSERVATION
Calls for a statewide per-capita urban water use reduction of 20 percent by 2020, but not every water district would have to meet that threshold. Agencies that don't meet targets would be ineligible for state grants and loans. Farm water suppliers would not face targets but would have to submit efficiency plans.

GROUNDWATER MONITORING
Requires agencies to report water levels in underground basins. Agencies that don't comply could lose grants.

WATER RIGHTS
Gives state water regulators more powers to police illegal water diversions, although specific penalties would have to be added later by the Legislature.


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