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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial'>Water facilities transfer isn't easy<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial'>Cleaning up drainage raises complex tangle of legal, finance
issues.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial'>By Michael Doyle and <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Mark Grossi</st1:PersonName>
/ The <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Fresno</st1:place></st1:City>
Bee<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial'>02/17/07 03:46:27<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial'><!-- END /pubsys/assets/common/related_content.comp -->Serious
political and pragmatic obstacles block a new proposal to shift vast <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> irrigation facilities into
farmers' hands. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Capitol
Hill skeptics hold key leadership positions. Congress is already booked up with
another big Valley water plan to restore the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.
Technical solutions are complicated. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>And
history, if it's any guide, suggests it's extremely hard to transfer federal
water projects -- especially ones serving <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>"A
proposal like this will always face challenges," Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno,
conceded Friday. "This is not a unanimous consent item." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Costa,
nonetheless, said he finds promise in the new notion to deliver into local
control the San Luis Reservoir and more than 100 miles of canals and associated
pumping plants. He represents much of the 600,000-acre Westlands Water
District. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Under
the proposal, Westlands would join with the San Luis Water District and other
districts in taking over the federal facilities. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The
state of <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
also would play a role. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The
water districts would become responsible for resolving the irrigation drainage
problems now afflicting almost 400,000 acres of the Valley's west side. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>In
exchange, the federal government would forgive the districts' $489.6 million
construction debt. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>"This
is an attempt, I think, to think out of the box," Costa said. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Supporters
consider the proposal aired this week better than other drainage options
estimated to cost as much as $2.6 billion. The government's preferred drainage
option was supposed to be announced Friday, but officials delayed it to discuss
the new proposal. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Environmental
critics question whether the new idea will really save taxpayer money. If the
government remains liable for drainage, irrigation districts would eventually
have to repay the federal Bureau of Reclamation for a drainage fix. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Bureau
spokesman Jeff McCracken responded that taxpayers still would be providing the
upfront funds. The government would allow interest-free payback over 50 years.
This amounts to a taxpayer subsidy. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>"The
reimbursement wouldn't begin until after the facilities for drainage are
complete," McCracken added. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>But
even the 20-page conceptual paper now circulating on Capitol Hill acknowledges
numerous difficulties. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Area
lawmakers like Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, still must get their potential
concerns addressed. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The
feds and the farmers, for instance, concede they don't yet agree on the
"full scope" of how the government might be shielded from future
lawsuits. The farmers originally sued over the government's failure to provide
promised drainage. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Without
drainage, selenium-tainted farm runoff has accumulated -- most infamously
during the 1980s in the poisoned Kesterson Reservoir in western <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Merced</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The
written proposal acknowledges other uncertainties, including: <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Efforts
to understand the financial implications of the transfer are
"ongoing," while identifying the dollar value of the water and
facilities is "a difficult question to answer." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Farmers
and federal officials disagree over the "outstanding" issue of who is
responsible for dam safety. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The
potential effect on <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
bond and credit ratings "has not yet been addressed." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Impacts
on pumping plant operations are "highly dependent" upon final
negotiations. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:
Arial;color:red'>And then there's the salt. </span></font><font size=4
face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:
Arial;color:red'>Many millions of tons of salt have come to the western <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> in irrigation water from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which is where the ocean meets the state's two
longest rivers. </span></font><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:
Arial;color:red'>"Where will all this salt go?" asked <st1:place
w:st="on">Clovis</st1:place> resident Lloyd Carter, an attorney and
environmentalist. </span></font><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:
13.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:
Arial;color:red'>The salt will eventually damage the land unless there is some
way to remove it, experts say. </span></font><font size=4 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:
Arial;color:red'>Simply changing the owner won't remove the salt. </span></font><font
size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>"Is
this new plan really in the best interest of the taxpayers?" asked Rep.
George Miller, D-Martinez. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Miller's
skepticism is telling. He is one of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's chief
lieutenants. Her chief of staff, John Lawrence, formerly handled Western water
issues for Miller. Her chief administrative officer, Dan Beard, likewise worked
for Miller and then ran the Bureau of Reclamation during the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Clinton</st1:place></st1:City> administration. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>All
were around the last time <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
farmers and their congressional allies tried to seize the Central Valley
Project. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>In
1995, lawmakers led by Rep. John Doolittle, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">R-Granite</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
sought to sell the CVP as part of a larger budget bill. That proposal to sell
off the entire <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Redding-to-Bakersfield</st1:place></st1:City>
water network was far more ambitious than the new idea. Still, its fate is
instructive. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>One
of the big proponents of the 1995 sell-the-CVP idea was <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Jason
Peltier</st1:PersonName>, then representing Central Valley Project customers. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Peltier
now is a senior official in the Interior Department, which helped craft this
week's proposal. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>The
1995 idea eventually died, with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein cautioning
then that "there are a lot of points that I think need a major
hearing." This week, Feinstein said she needs time to analyze the new
proposal. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial'>Congress
this year is already being asked to approve an ambitious plan to restore the <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType>,
raising questions of how much <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
water out-of-state lawmakers are prepared to deal with. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial'>Michael Doyle reports from The Bee’s Washington
Bureau. The reporters can be reached at <a href="mailto:mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com">mdoyle@mcclatchydc.com</a>
and (202) 383-0006, and <a
href="mailto:mgrossi@fresnobee.com%3C/div%3E%20%20%20%20%20%20%3C!--/STORYBODY--%3E%3C!--ENDCONTENT--%3E%20%20%20%20%20%3C/div%3E%20%20%20%20%20%3C!--%20END%20leftColumnStory%20--%3E%20%20%20%20%20%3Cdiv%20class="
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