Chamber of Commerce Water Bond Proposals Fail to Address Root Causes of State's Water Supply Problems, Environmental Group Says

(Sacramento – December 13, 2007) Four water bond initiatives proposed by the California Chamber of Commerce are deeply flawed and would force California to spend billions of tax dollars on dams that will harm the environment and fail to supply the clean, safe drinking water the state needs for the future, a leading environmental group said today. 

“These bond proposals are deeply flawed because they fail to adequately address the root causes of California’s serious water supply problems,” said Ann Hayden, senior water resource analyst for Environmental Defense during a 10am news conference in Sacramento with Senate President pro Tem Don Perata (Oakland), Senator Mike Machado (Linden), leading environmental groups, and water agencies.

Hayden is also a member of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan steering committee that is developing a long term plan in 2008 to protect and restore the Delta ecosystem while providing reliable water supply to California’s farms and cities. “These bonds would circumvent the normal approval process for major infrastructure and subsidize questionable projects, spending unprecedented amounts of taxpayer dollars.”

 The Chamber filed four different versions of a potential water bond, deferring to a later date the one they would submit for voter approval on the November 4, 2008, ballot. All versions include funds and mandate construction of three reservoirs without specifying how they would be operated, who would get the water and pay for the local cost-share portions, or how the reservoirs would affect the environment. Some versions of the initiative would provide authorization to build a peripheral canal that would divert freshwater from the Sacramento River before it gets to the Delta for delivery to farms in the San Joaquin Valley, urban southern California and parts of the Bay Area. Environmental Defense opposes authorizing a peripheral canal by initiative, as it would be an end run around ongoing stakeholder processes and would mandate crucial aspects such as its size, operating principles, financing and governing structure.
 
“Mandating a peripheral canal through the ballot initiative is a recipe for disaster,” said Tom Graff, regional director for Environmental Defense and a former member of the Bay-Delta Advisory Council. “It is not the right approach for the environment or for major policy and science decisions involving the management of California’s water resources.”
 
Environmental Defense is working cooperatively with many other parties, through both the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, to develop a long term plan to protect and restore the Delta ecosystem while providing reliable water supply to California’s farms and cities. The Chamber’s initiatives would preempt those efforts and prejudge the findings of hundreds of biologists, engineers, water agencies, Delta communities, fishermen and environmental groups, leaving the California taxpayer to pick up the tab.
 
“We call on the Chamber to withdraw these reckless initiatives,” Graff concluded. “We urge them to roll up their sleeves and join those of us who are working thoughtfully and cooperatively to solve California’s water supply and environmental problems.” 
 
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Environmental Defense, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 supporters.  Since 1967, Environmental Defense has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems.  www.environmentaldefense.org
 
 

With more than 3 million members, Environmental Defense Fund creates transformational solutions to the most serious environmental problems. To do so, EDF links science, economics, law, and innovative private-sector partnerships to turn solutions into action. edf.org