1989 LEGISLATIVE SESSION: THE FINAL HOURS : Landmark Mono Water Legislation Gets Final OK

Legislation that would give Los Angeles incentives to draw less water from the Mono Lake Basin cleared the Legislature on Friday after lawmakers were told it was the first step in resolving one of California’s most bitter water battles.

With the backing of an unusual coalition that included the city, environmentalists, several eastern Sierra counties and state water officials, the measure was sent to Gov. George Deukmejian for his signature.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Senate . . . this is a peace treaty,” said Sen. John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) before the legislation won unanimous Senate approval.

Later, the two-bill package passed the Assembly 59 to 5 and 67 to 0.

Elated lawmakers, still marveling that they had been able to reach a consensus on legislation that affected such an emotional issue, saw the measure as representing much more than a potential resolution to the dispute over Mono Lake.

‘Restore Civility’

“I’m convinced historically if the bill does anything at all, if . . . it helps restore civility to the debate over water . . . that’s the benefit to the state of California,” said Assemblyman Phil Isenberg (D-Sacramento), a sponsor of the measure.

“It was 75 years ago that William Mulholland went up to the Owens Valley and said, ‘Let’s take the water,’ and for 75 years you have had a battle in California,” he added. “It was not just save Mono Lake or save the Owens Valley. It was what that represented--the dominance of big over small, the dominance of cities over rural areas.”

The legislation that encompassed two bills--one by Isenberg and one by Assemblyman William P. Baker (R-Danville)--establishes a $65-million environmental water fund and provides that money from the fund can be used to preserve Mono Lake by helping Los Angeles develop alternative water sources.

Before it can apply for grants from the fund, the bill requires the city to reach an agreement with one of its oldest adversaries, the Mono Lake Committee. The committee and other environmental groups have challenged the city in several court actions, complaining that its diversion of water from streams that feed the lake has lowered lake levels and endangered the ecosystem.

Much of the support for the Isenberg-Baker legislation came from lawmakers who said they feared the courts would eventually force Los Angeles to reduce its diversions from the Mono Lake Basin anyway. The city’s only alternative then, they said, would be to draw more from the Metropolitan Water District, which is served by the State Water Project.

“In a nutshell in this legislation we help Los Angeles, we help Mono Lake . . . and we reduce the threat on the yield of the state water (project),” said Sen. Ruben S. Ayala, (D-Chino).

The only opposition to the bills in the Senate came from Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), who saw them as an attempt by agricultural and other interests in Northern California to keep more water for themselves.

“At some point senators from Los Angeles, if we ever decided to get together on an issue like water, . . . could run the state,” said Rosenthal, who abstained from voting on the measures.