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<h1>Water bond's lure for the North Coast<br>
<br>
<span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:normal'>John Driscoll/The
Times-Standard<br>
Posted: 11/25/2009 01:30:21 AM PST</span><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
<br>
The North Coast would get $315 million and be eligible for a share of $3.38
billion as part of a state water bond being proposed for 2010 -- a bond that
many are questioning as unaffordable and that regional interests say threaten
salmon rivers. <br>
<br>
The Department of Water Resources this week roughly outlined how the $11.1
billion in the water bond would be dispersed by region. The North Coast would
be eligible for hundreds of millions for watershed projects, wetland
restoration, salmon habitat improvement, waterfowl habitat projects, and
vegetation management. In the bond measure is also $250 million for removal of
the Klamath River's four main dams. <br>
<br>
While the bond, and the legislative package passed earlier this month, has been
touted by supporters as a big stride toward improving the state's weak water
policies, conservationists in the north point out that most of the money would
go to new dams, water projects and a canal to pump water around the Sacramento
River Delta to cities and farms to the south. That could threaten water
available for fish in the Trinity River, which is connected to the Central
Valley Project, they say. <br>
<br>
”I'm pretty sure that it's a long-term commitment of Central Valley water
and nobody is sure how the Trinity River plays into that,” said Humboldt
County Supervisor Jimmy Smith, “but I think it's going to be
significant.” <br>
<br>
The Legislative Analyst's Office points out that the state is currently
operating at <br>
a $6.3 billion shortfall, with deficits projected to reach $14 billion next fiscal
year and $20 billion a year for another five years. The bond would create debt
service of $600 million a year. <br>
<br>
Smith said the proposed bond is far too expensive and complex, and that the
Klamath money should be carved off and put forward in its own package, or a
simpler one. <br>
<br>
If the money for the North Coast -- Humboldt, Del Norte, Trinity and parts of
Glenn, Lake, Marin, Modoc, Siskiyou and Sonoma counties -- is meant to draw
support from the region, it's not certain that it would be delivered. Proposition
84, a water bond passed in 2006, was $5.4 billion. Tom Stokely with the
California Water Impact Network pointed out that some $40 million for the
California Department of Fish and Game's fisheries restoration program hasn't
yet come through. <br>
<br>
Billions from previous water bonds also haven't been spent, according to the
State Treasurer's Office. <br>
<br>
Stokely cautioned that the efforts most likely to be funded are the building of
dams, reservoirs and canals, while fish and wildlife provisions are likely to
get bound up due to state budget woes. <br>
<br>
”I liken it to Charlie Brown and Lucy where she holds the football for
him and then at the last minute pulls it away,” Stokely said. <br>
<br>
Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro called the water package and the bond to be “a
wolf in sheep's clothing.” The Trinity River may be particularly
vulnerable to excess diversion due to existing infrastructure tying it to the
Central Valley Project, he said. Chesbro also said that water projects have
always been paid with revenue bonds, but that's different with the latest water
bond. <br>
<br>
”This would be a general obligation bond, which means they want to take
our water and then make us pay for it,” the Arcata Democrat said.</span><o:p></o:p></h1>

<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><b><i><span
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><b><i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></i></b></a><b><i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'> </span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><a href="http://fotr.org/"><b><i><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></i></b></a><b><i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'> </span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>

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