Schwarzenegger Vetoes Lois Wolk's Water Recycling, Delta Bills

Schwarzenegger Vetoes Lois Wolk's Water Recycling, Delta Bills

by Dan Bacher

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, true to his starring roles as the "Fish Terminator" and the "Delta Destroyer," last week vetoed a water recycling bill and two Delta bills sponsored by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis).

He vetoed this badly-needed legislation as the collapse of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River chinook salmon, Delta smelt, young striped bass and other species continues on the California Delta, due to massive water exports and declining water quality under the Schwarzenegger administration.

Wolk sponsored SB 1173 to increase the use of recycled water in California and use limited water resources more efficiently. However, the Governor vetoed this legislation, claiming in his veto message that that water recycling should wait to be funded by a $11.2 billion water bond that was removed from the ballot because voters would reject it.

“SB 1173 would have allowed communities to begin taking advantage of this underutilized water resource immediately, at no cost to the public,” said Wolk. “Unfortunately, the Governor has chosen to hold water recycling hostage to an irresponsible bond that should be repealed, completely rewritten, or voted down. We need to move forward with water recycling today, not wait for pork-in-sky boondoggles that will never happen.”

By 2030 recycled water could provide nearly 1.5 million acre feet of new water for California on an annual basis, enough water for 3 million California families, according to the state’s water plan.

“We are disappointed that this Governor chose to veto Senate Bill 1173, which would have expanded cost effective water recycling to increase water supplies in California,” said Jonas Minton, a water policy adviser for the Planning and Conservation League, which supported the bill. "However we look forward to working with Senator Wolk and the next Governor to complete this important work."

Further demonstrating Schwarzenegger's lack of commitment to Delta communities and his zeal for firming up plans to build a peripheral canal/tunnel before he leaves office, the Governor last week also vetoed two of Wolk's Delta bills. One bill would have ensured Delta communities have the opportunity to play a role in a planning process that will shape their future, while another would allocated $30 million of previously approved bond funds to fund Delta levee construction.

“I’m disappointed, but not surprised," said Senator Lois Wolk in response to news of the Governor’s veto of her Senate Bill 1334, which would have required confirmation of local participation in state conservation plans like the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). "Once again, the Administration has shut out the Delta communities, who supported this measure."

“We learned last week that discussions about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the largest conservation plan in the state’s history, have been going on since August behind closed doors, without public notice or Delta representation, despite existing law calling for local cooperation in state conservation plans," Wolk emphasized. "Rather than fight this out in court, it would be beneficial for the Administration to voluntarily work with communities. Unfortunately, this veto is further evidence of their unwillingness to allow local participation—a mindset that only serves to move California further from its co-equal goals for a healthy Delta and a reliable water supply.”

Supporters of the SB 1334, including representatives of Delta Counties Coalition, which is comprised of the five counties within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, also slammed Schwarzenegger for vetoing the bill.

“We’re simply asking to be at the table as the state discusses its plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, plans that could put thousands of Yolo County residents at increased risk of flooding and hundreds of family farms out of business,” said Yolo County Supervisor Mike McGowan. “To ensure that this process produces viable solutions, the Delta communities must be included and not simply take the brunt of the plan’s impacts.”

“It’s clear that the Administration is only giving lip service to the coequal goals, especially the part that says those goals ‘shall be achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place’,” said Contra Costa Supervisor Mary Piepho. “If the Administration was committed to achieving these goals, then they would be encouraging Delta participation, not blocking us at every opportunity.”

On the morning of September 30, one Delta farmer, two environmentalists and one fisherman tried to attend one of the secret meetings of the BDCP principals, but the representatives of the Department of Water Resources, federal agencies, water agencies, corporate agribusiness interests and select environmental NGOs chose to disband the meeting rather than proceed with the Delta advocates present.

After the meeting at the California Farm Bureau offices in Sacramento was disrupted, Bill Jennings, chairman/executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, said, “I’m astounded that four people involved in Delta issues for decades walked into a room and had everybody walk out from continuing the discussion about the future of the Delta.”

Delta advocates believe the BDCP is a thinly disguised plan to build a peripheral canal/tunnel to facilitate water exports to corporate agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water agencies - hence the need for the principals to conduct their business behind closed doors.

The Governor also vetoed SB 991 by Wolk to speed the state’s assessment of Delta levees and allocate $30 million in existing bond funds to make necessary repairs and improvements. The Delta Counties Coalition is also one of SB 991’s biggest supporters.

“The Delta’s levees protect the lives and livelihoods of Delta communities, secure the water supply for millions of Californians, and sustain the Delta’s delicate ecosystem,” said McGowan. “SB 991 would have accelerated the process of repairing and strengthening this outdated system of levees, and created some 500 construction jobs in the process.”

By vetoing these three badly needed bills, Schwarzenegger showed that he cares nothing about Delta communities and collapsing salmon and other fish populations. Unfortunately, Schwarzenegger will leave office with his "scorched earth" policies towards the Delta and California fisheries completely intact.