At Last, Logic on Water

There’s been a lot of talk over the years about stopping sprawl and having smart growth in California--as the population roared past 20 million and then 30 million and now heads toward 40 million. Talk, but little if any action. Finally, the Legislature has taken a small but critical step toward accommodating the millions more who will live in this state within two decades.

After a 10-year struggle, lawmakers have approved a bill that requires developers planning 500 houses or more to demonstrate that there will be an adequate water supply for the homes before construction can start.

SB 221, authored by Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica), passed on the next-to-last day of the 2001 session. Now it needs only the signature of Gov. Gray Davis to become a landmark smart-growth tool for the state.

It’s been an amazing odyssey for what started out as a simple idea back in 1991. The entire text of that original bill said: “No lead agency shall approve a development project unless the applicant identifies a long-term, reliable supply of water to serve the proposed project.”

The original measure and its successors were pushed by the East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves Oakland and parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties. This was after the Contra Costa County supervisors approved an 11,000-home subdivision even though the East Bay district protested that it could not guarantee the water supply through an extended drought. The builder sued, but East Bay stuck to its position, a responsible one.

Nothing would seem more logical than to make sure there is enough water to serve growth. But the legislation was opposed by a coalition that included real estate developers, builders, other water agencies and local governments jealously guarding their control over planning.

This was the third time that Kuehl authored the measure. Opposition gradually fell off as the bill was amended to meet objections--once unfortunately to raise the size of affected developments to 500 from 200. In the process, the proposal grew to six pages. SB 221 was declared dead several times, only to revive.

The concept was too logical to deny in chronically water-short California, which could find itself in a severe drought if the coming winter is another dry one. We strongly urge Davis to sign SB 221 into law. In doing so, he would put California on a promising new course toward more responsible growth and wise use of resources.