Governor calls for action to prevent water crisis

The California Aquaduct is the principal water-conveyance structure of the State Water Project, carrying water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California.

While California farmers and ranchers continue to struggle through one of the driest years on record, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week renewed his call for the state to invest in new water storage and outlined his long-term plan to improve the state's water system.

The governor visited the San Luis Reservoir in Merced County and toured the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta during a two-day stump to address the state's worsening water crisis and urge lawmakers to approve his $5.9 billion water bond package, which he unveiled in January.

That plan would provide $4.5 billion to build two reservoirs and boost surface and groundwater storage; $1 billion to restore the delta; and $450 million for restoration and conservation efforts.

"I want to make sure that when people in California turn on their faucet, there's always water coming out," the governor said. "I want to make sure that when the farmers need water for irrigation, that there is water available for that. I want to make sure that we have enough water for our thriving industry in California and that we have enough water to power our cities and our state."

Schwarzenegger has asked the state Department of Water Resources to take immediate steps to improve the deteriorating conditions of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, through which water travels to provide for the needs of 25 million Californians and irrigate hundreds of thousands of acres of Central Valley farmland.

"But it also is one of the most vulnerable areas in California," Schwarzenegger said. "It faces dangers of contamination from natural disasters and from rising sea water."

In commenting on the governor's water plan, California Farm Bureau Federation President Doug Mosebar said he was encouraged by the focus on new water storage.

"Adding to our state's water supply will benefit all Californians," Mosebar said. "As the governor rightly points out, the time for action has come. We will continue to work with his administration to create an action plan that enhances water supplies, maintains delta water quality, benefits the environment and improves water security for family farmers, ranchers and all Californians."

The governor's interim plan to protect the delta calls for increased efforts to control the spread of invasive species such as the quagga mussel, which competes with native species like the endangered Delta smelt; restore the delta's natural habitat; improve response to natural disasters; and install screens on unscreened diversions in the delta to prevent the potential for smelt to be sucked into pumps.

The threat of regulatory action to protect the smelt forced the state to take voluntary action to stop pumping water from the delta for nine days in June. The shutdown, coupled with this year's dry weather, has drained much of the San Luis Reservoir, which stores water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta bound for Southern California residents and Central Valley farmers that would otherwise run into the Pacific Ocean.

Schwarzenegger noted that the reservoir is now holding just 25 percent of its capacity of more than 2 million acre-foot.

"Already we are hearing that farmers are taking fields out of production because they don't have enough water," he said.

California farmers suffered more than $800 million in economic losses during the state's last drought between 1987 and 1992, while employers in the landscaping and gardening sectors lost $460 million and cut 5,600 jobs, according to Schwarzenegger's office.

The governor also noted that water districts around the state are now asking residents to cut their water usage, while counties such as Sonoma and Santa Cruz have imposed mandatory water rationing. Since January, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared drought disasters in 17 California counties.

"If we have another dry season like this, I would say that it will be catastrophic; it will be a disaster," he said.

Joining Schwarzenegger during his stop at the San Luis Reservoir was Merced County farmer Steve Patricio, who is also board chairman of Western Growers. He recalled being at the reservoir 45 years ago when President John F. Kennedy first dedicated the giant basin. But he lamented that no new reservoirs have been built in the last 20 years to provide additional water storage for the state's growing population, estimated to increase from its current 37 million to 60 million by 2050.

"Farmers today use less water than they used in the 1960s while producing higher yields of high value crops with tremendous nutritional value. The water saved by agriculture has helped fuel California's population growth," he said. "But the time has come to prepare for the needs of future generations."

Schwarzenegger said his $5.9 billion comprehensive water plan, which Democratic legislators rejected in April, would protect the environment, support the state's economy, preserve safe, reliable drinking water and help communities conserve water supplies. He said he is hoping the Legislature will pass his plan by the end of the year.

The governor's immediate restoration plans for the delta would cost $120 million. That money would come out of the $1 billion proposed in the larger comprehensive plan. But the near-term actions proposed in the plan are not meant to replace recommendations from ongoing delta planning efforts, said Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources.

Rather, they are "actions that we can take with existing resources, where we're not dependent on actions taken by the Legislature in this session," Snow said, and they must be "tied to a long-term fix," otherwise those actions are "meaningless; they're band-aid approaches."

"We do not want people to go home thinking that they have fixed the problem by passing a handful of bills that just address a few symptoms and not the fundamental problem," he added.

Bob Balgenorth, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council in California, said his organization supports the governor's water policy because it will bring needed jobs to the Central Valley, which has the highest unemployment rate in the state.

"His water project will generate enough jobs to employ all those 70,000 people that are unemployed, plus bring in new men and women, young men and women, to become apprentices and begin a career in construction, a good-paying with health, pension and good wages," he said.

To learn more about the governor's water plan, go to his Web site at gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/6972.

(Ching Lee is a reporter for Ag Alert. She may be contacted at clee@cfbf.com.)