O.C. Water Lawsuit
“Short-Lived Water Truce” (editorial, Oct. 28) is correct that Gov. Gray Davis and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt all but declared peace in the state’s water wars with the release of their June 9 framework agreement to resolve environmental and water resource issues in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. We also share your concern that the peace could unravel.
The lawsuit filed by the Municipal Water District of Orange County is not, as The Times states, explicitly to “get more water.” Instead, it seeks to uphold the framework agreement.
The delta is the source for two-thirds of the state’s drinking water and a critical--and endangered--environmental habitat. The framework agreement sought to impose a balanced approach to restoring environmental health, improving water quality and providing a certainty of dry-year supply for water users in both urban and agricultural sectors. Many of the promises of the framework, however, are not embodied in succeeding legal documents. Our lawsuit is intended to result in a resolution that will ensure that those promises and perhaps a long-lasting peace in the water wars become reality.
H.E. “Bill” HARTGE
President, Municipal Water
District of Orange County
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