Save This Vital Water Pact

Nearly every major water problem in California is tied in some way to the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, where the two merge before flowing out to San Francisco Bay. This 738,000-acre estuary southwest of Sacramento is the water heart of California. Its islands are rich in agriculture. The channels provide migration routes for salmon and habitat for 750 plant and animal species. The delta is also the place where state and federal water projects pump billions of gallons of water a year and send it coursing south through parallel canals to irrigate the rich San Joaquin Valley and to provide much of the household water used by 17 million Southern Californians.

Four decades of pumping, and increasing demands on the water supply, have taken their toll. This stress was especially severe during the last major drought, from 1987 to 1992. Federal and state agencies decided then that strong action had to be taken to save the delta.

In 1995, Congress and the state created the Cal-Fed Bay-Delta Program to develop a plan to restore the delta ecosystem, stabilize and increase water supplies, protect endangered species and improve the quality of the tainted water.

In June 2000, after five years of often-contentious negotiations involving nine state and 12 federal agencies, environmentalists, farmers, urban water agencies and others, the landmark Cal-Fed plan was ratified by then-Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and Gov. Gray Davis. It called for spending $9 billion over 30 years to restore the ecological health of the delta and resolve long-term disputes among warring groups over the use of the water.

Just a year later, Cal-Fed is in trouble. Congress needs to reauthorize the program to appropriate the federal share of money for projects such as restoring watersheds, removing barriers to migrating salmon and developing new water storage facilities. However, there are competing bills in the House and Senate, one sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and backed by farmers and one by Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), supported by environmental groups. The interest groups have lined up to re-fight battles supposedly settled by Cal-Fed, such as a demand by farmers and water agencies for immediate approval of new reservoir projects. This should not be allowed to happen.

The Bush administration and Davis need to exert united leadership for a new authorization law based on the Babbitt-Davis agreement. Otherwise, Cal-Fed could collapse, with years of effort and opportunity wasted.

California is just one dry winter away from another drought. There can be no winners in another water war.