Legislation proposed to protect state's water

By Hank Shaw
Capitol Bureau Chief
Published Thursday, March 10, 2005

SACRAMENTO -- A group of state senators that includes Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, unveiled a sweeping package of proposals Wednesday intended to make water cleaner and more available to millions of Californians.

But it also imposes new rules on agriculture the industry may fight.

California, much of which is arid or desert, spends billions of dollars to ensure its 36 million residents have enough water to drink, run businesses and grow crops. The six Democratic senators proposing the legislation say they want to ensure that spigot remains open for the foreseeable future and before any crisis erupts.

"There is nothing more important than the quality of our water, the availability of our water and the affordability of our water," said Senate leader Don Perata of Alameda.

The package of bills includes provisions to:

* Tighten accounting requirements for water users and impose new penalties for those who don't comply.

* Restrict the ability of water boards to grant waivers that allow polluters to continue business as usual. It also would change the makeup of those boards to include members with "more expertise" on the subject.

* Make polluters -- not taxpayers -- pay for water quality monitoring and the cleanup of degraded sites.

* Increase the water flow of the San Joaquin River by boosting releases from Friant Dam. The proposal also includes money to compensate farmers who would have depended on that water. :::
    

* Place state water-quality data on a "one-stop shopping" Web site that residents can use to check if nearby rivers, streams and lakes are clean.

Wednesday's announcement comes on the heels of several major water proposals set for debate this year, including how much money to spend shoring up the Central Valley's 1,600 miles of levees, who should pay for future water projects and whether the umbrella group overseeing water quality issues in the Delta has outlived its usefulness.

California's population is expanding faster than the state's water supplies. According to estimates provided by the lawmakers Wednesday, by 2010 the state is expected to be short 2.4 million acre-feet -- enough water to supply nearly 5 million households for a year.

More than half of California relies on the Delta for its drinking water, and Machado's San Joaquin River bill hopes to bolster that region by flushing its often-stagnant waters with fresh flows from upstream.

This would solve several of the Delta's environmental problems as well as help keep the salty San Francisco Bay from encroaching on the gigantic water pumps near Tracy.

Sen. Sheila Kuehl of Santa Monica said she knows some of the proposals will face opposition.

"Water is to California as oil is to Texas," she said. "It's a critical issue, and also one of conflict."

Many of the measures would affect agriculture and businesses -- particularly food processors based in the Central Valley, which use huge amounts of water.

Neither the California Manufacturers and Technology Association, which represents food processors, nor the California Farm Bureau Federation have taken positions on the legislation yet.

Farm bureau spokesman Dave Kranz said his group wants to discuss the various proposals with the senators before commenting publicly.

But several individual San Joaquin-area farmers interviewed in recent weeks said cheap water means cheap food prices. Any new monitoring or cleanup regulations will increase their costs, which they say they'll oppose unless they can pass new costs along to consumers -- a tough task in a market where South American asparagus is as easily obtainable as the San Joaquin variety.

Others say it's impossible to account for all the water they use without a substantial investment of time and money.

Machado, who is also a farmer, called that a "knee-jerk" reaction. He said many of his colleagues simply don't want to change their methods to reflect tighter water times.

Water meters are not exorbitantly expensive, Machado said, adding that low-till farming, drip irrigation and alternate crop choices are all options that can conserve precious water and still let the industry turn a profit.

Lawmakers will discuss Machado's San Joaquin River bill at a committee hearing scheduled for April 5.