Environment & The Green Beat

SACRAMENTO (AP) ― California must retool how it uses, moves and stores water to meet the state's growing population and protect public health and the environment, a panel appointed by the governor said Friday.

In its final report, the seven-member Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force said Californians should consider a long-ago defeated idea to pipe water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and build new dams.

"The delta is going to hell, the ecosystem is deteriorating rapidly and has been for years," said task force chairman Phil Isenberg. "The current governance in the delta is not working."

A new plumbing system was among a host of strategies recommended Friday by the panel Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger charged with crafting a new master plan for the delta.

The proposals reflect nearly two years of work on how best to restore the delta's ailing ecosystem, secure state water supplies and protect residents who live in the delta area. A Schwarzenegger cabinet committee will consider the recommendations and advise the governor and the Legislature by the end of the year.

Persuading lawmakers to follow the panel's blueprint could be a challenge. Democrats in the state Legislature have long opposed dams, and delta farmers and residents are already banding together to oppose a canal that would pipe water to some 23 million Californians and Central Valley fament is currently studying various proposals for a canal, which it estimates could cost between $12 billion and $24 billion, but maybe as much as $80 billion.

Jonas Minton, a water policy adviser at the Planning and Conservation League, said the state must show that building a canal and dams are worth the price.

"The details will make or break it," Minton said. "It's a good framework but the Legislature is going to need to see some real data on costs and benefits."

Unlike those in previous proposals, panel members said their canal wouldn't siphon additional water to send to Southern California and the Central Valley. They said in most years, less water likely would be taken from the delta.

Task force member Monica Florian said California needs to become less dependent on the delta watershed.

"It's a very unstable source of water," she said.

The panel wants lawmakers to give equal priority to wildlife and water supply—essentially reversing the historical practice of state and federal water managers pumping massive amounts of water. That has landed water managers in federal court and led to pumping restrictions this year to protect the delta smelt.

The panel recommended curbing development in flood plain areas, improving water quality, restoring 100,000 acres of habitat and flood bypasses and requiring cities and farmers to cut their water use.

It also recommended the governor appoint a new government body,
approved by the state senate, to implement and enforce a plan for the delta that state and local governments would be required to follow when considering new development. It would replace the largely failed state-federal program established in 2000.

While local water agencies generally supported the plan, some Northern California cities fear they could still lose water that would be given to protect fish in the delta.

"It's hard for many water users to look at the prospect of losing water with large consequences," said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

Task force members said their biggest challenge will be persuading legislators to adopt their entire plan, rather than picking only parts of it, which they said would not stabilize California's water supplies.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)