Drought and CVP Transfer

I take exception to Gov. Pete Wilson’s efforts to transfer the Central Valley Project (CVP) to state control with undue haste from an existing federal administration (“Expedited Water Agreement Urged,” Nov. 6).

I support the eventual transfer of the CVP, the largest water project in California, to the state. After all, it is a project that stores and delivers California water to Californians. It relies on the same Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as does the State Water Project. It stands to reason that the two projects can be run much better by single management--preferably Californians.

While the transfer makes sense in the abstract, such a transfer will not, in the abstract, address the major problems relating to operation of the CVP--serious harm to the environment and substantial subsidies that make the project a white elephant. The CVP’s policy of giving agricultural entities almost all the water at subsidized prices, set 40 years ago, makes no sense, when the urban economy suffers from severe water cutbacks and increasing prices. We need balance!

Thus, before any transfer takes place, many diverse interest groups must join lengthy and challenging negotiations regarding the terms of such a transfer. The environmental, economic and water allocation problems must be settled. Any “expedited water agreement” would defeat attempts to resolve the challenges we face.

ALF W. BRANDT, Director

Metropolitan Water District

(Representing the City of Los Angeles)