Wilson Should Push Water Deal

The office of Gov. Pete Wilson has stepped forward to broker a bitter water-trading dispute between the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the San Diego County Water Authority. All of California will benefit if Wilson’s team can achieve agreement. A deal would expedite resolution of problems involving the waters of both the Colorado River and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

For the past year, the two districts have battled over San Diego’s plan to purchase a major new water supply from water-rich farmers in the Imperial Valley. Metropolitan is involved because the only way to move the water to San Diego is via the MWD’s 242-mile-long Colorado Aqueduct. Negotiations include the conditions under which San Diego could use part of the canal’s capacity and the price for doing so.

Some of the bitterness in the struggle relates to the determination of San Diego, which now gets 90% of its water from the MWD, to develop an independent water supply to support future development. The MWD insists that unless San Diego agrees to its price demands, the deal would unfairly shift major costs to its other members.

The parties soon will sit down with George Dunn, Wilson’s chief of staff, and David Kennedy, his director of water resources, who has been seeking a deal for months. While Wilson may not be involved in the detailed talks, he should drop by the conference room and make clear to the parties the importance of agreement. The governor might even consider keeping the door locked until the deal is done.