Water: Pushing Into the Future

Forty years after Californians approved construction of the massive State Water Project, Gov. Gray Davis and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt have launched an ambitious plan to satisfy water supply demands for the next 40 years. But this is a far different development than Gov. Pat Brown’s project of 1960, a classic engineering scheme of one giant dam and reservoir at Oroville linked by a 444-mile aqueduct to farms in the San Joaquin Valley and water users throughout coastal Southern California. The concept was simple: collect the water in the north and ship it south.

The new plan is just as vital to the state’s continued growth and economic viability as Brown’s but far more complex and difficult to grasp. Essentially, it is a jigsaw array of individual projects to restore the environment, protect endangered fish, shore up flood control, improve the quality of water shipped to Southern California, reclaim used water and conserve more water both above and below ground as a cushion against drought.

Picture Pat Brown’s project as a single telephone line linking two parties at either end of the state. The Davis-Babbitt plan is more like the Internet. The framework--developed in conjunction with a group of state and federal agencies known as CalFed and scores of interest groups--reaches into virtually every corner of the state in many different ways.

Like Brown’s plan, financed by a $1.75-billion bond issue, the cost for the CalFed water project is enormous, estimated at $10 billion over the next 30 years.

In Southern California, the plan will stabilize the region’s supply so that water rationing is less likely during droughts. Another benefit is the promise of higher-quality water shipped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near Sacramento to the Metropolitan Water District, which serves about 17 million customers in Southern California. The State Water Project supplies have become increasingly salty as the delta environment has degraded, especially in low-flow periods. The MWD needs good-quality water from the delta to mix with the highly saline water it imports from the Colorado River. CalFed will deliver that.

The new Davis-Babbitt plan is a fragile political structure designed to satisfy the demands of farmers, businesses, urban water managers, fish biologists and environmental groups. Six months ago, it appeared that years of negotiations toward a consensus had failed. But Babbitt refused to let CalFed die. Working tirelessly, and with the help of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), he enlisted Davis in the struggle. Together, Babbitt and Davis wrote an innovative plan that has broad support, although no group is willing to embrace every element.

Much work remains. The water coalition must hold together and produce a final environmental document this summer. Key parts of the plan must be ratified by Congress and the Legislature. The project will demand a strong governing structure that has the confidence of all the participating parties. The key breakthrough has been made. The only direction for the new California water plan must be forward.