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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'><img width=264 height=16
id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01CB1E80.D82C7330" alt=sacbee.com></span><span
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"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'><br>
<br>
</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:12.0pt'><span
style='font-size:19.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#024A82'>Editorial:
Pricey water bond deserves a revamp<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<h4 style='margin-top:4.8pt;line-height:12.0pt'><span style='font-size:9.0pt;
font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black;text-transform:uppercase'>PUBLISHED
THURSDAY, JUL. 08, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></h4>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is a savvy enough political player to see a punch coming before
it lands. That's why he called on lawmakers last week to delay a November
ballot vote on a proposed $11.1 billion water bond.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>That was a
wise move by the governor, but not wise enough. Instead of hoping for more
support in 2012, he and state lawmakers should repeal the water bond
legislation and come back with a smaller, equitable and less pork-filled
package that could be more easily sold to voters.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>Much has been
written about how lawmakers cobbled together this $11.1 billion Christmas tree
in the wee hours of Nov. 4. As lawmakers held out for more and more projects
for the price of their vote, the tree became festooned with all kinds of
ornaments. The cost of the bond package grew by nearly $2 billion.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>The final
package, approved as part of a sweeping set of reforms aimed at restoring the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and improving water reliability, includes a little
something for everyone. There is $20 million to help Siskiyou County with
economic development; $100 million for watershed restoration in Lake Tahoe;
$100 million for the San Vicente Reservoir in San Diego and more than $1
billion for unspecified projects – in other words, handshake deals.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>Given the
national backlash against self-serving "earmarks," it is stunning
that lawmakers and the governor thought they could get away with this. Yet the
proverbial pork barrel is not the only reason this law should be repealed and
revamped. Another fatal flaw? Its reliance on general obligation bonds to build
water projects that, in part, should be financed by beneficiaries.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>It's a
watershed issue. Everyone in the Sacramento-San Joaquin watershed is a
stakeholder in the Delta and its tributaries. Water districts that export water
from the Delta have an even bigger stake. These are the entities that should be
paying for fixes in the Delta and new water storage – not taxpayers on
the North Coast or other regions that will gain nothing from such investments.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>For months,
Schwarzenegger and his water advisers have defended the use of general obligation
bonds, noting that voters approved such bonds in 1960 to build the State Water
Project. While that claim is true, it is only half the story. As Norris Hundley
Jr. notes in his history of California water, "The Great Thirst," the
State Water Project was in trouble in the weeks before the bond vote. Four days
before the election, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
agreed to support the state plan and sign a contract obligating it to pay for
its share of the project. Voters then approved the State Water Project by a
narrow margin – 174,000 votes out of 5.8 million cast.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>With the
current bond proposal, potential beneficiaries have signed no contracts.
Although supporters say the bond plan includes language that would require such
parties to later pony up money, the lack of contracts potentially leaves
taxpayers on the hook to pay for projects such as Temperance Flat reservoir
(sought largely by San Joaquin Valley farmers), Sites reservoir (sought largely
by Northern California growers) and groundwater cleanup projects that would
mainly benefit Southern California.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>California
needs to invest in its water future, but it must make smart investments –
and equitable ones. Before voters are asked to authorize more general fund debt
on top of existing debt, the beneficiaries of water projects need to be
identified and obligated to pay for their fair share. One way to do this is
with a water fee.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>This won't be
easy. The state's water buffalos are notoriously uneager to put their money
where their mouths are. Yet if state leaders could forge a fair-share agreement
with a fee, they could then go to voters with an $11 billion package that would
only rely on borrowing for – say – half that amount. Voters would
be more likely to endorse this balanced approach.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:11.25pt;
margin-left:0in;line-height:18.0pt'><b><span style='color:black'>As is, this
$11.1 billion bond is doomed to die of its own weight.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<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><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/fax</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
mobile</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</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><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</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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