Davis Ally Urges New Panel on Use of Colorado River

SACRAMENTO — The chief advocate of a proposal for a giant water storage project buried under the Mojave Desert is backing an effort to create a state panel that would oversee California’s use of Colorado River water.

The activity by Keith Brackpool, chief executive officer of Cadiz Inc., has raised concerns from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and other project critics who worry that Brackpool may be trying to override objections from Southern California’s Metropolitan Water District.

Cadiz has a tentative contract with the giant water district. But MWD officials recently have indicated that they have reservations about his proposal.

“I’m really concerned how this board would be used,” Feinstein said Tuesday. “I don’t know what’s behind this, and I must tell you my curiosity is piqued.”

Assemblyman Joe Canciamilla (D-Pittsburg), one of the two chief sponsors of the bill to establish the board, said the panel would not have the authority to order MWD to approve the $150-million Cadiz water storage project.

But MWD officials said the panel’s authority so far is vague.

“Our interpretation is that it would create another checkpoint when you approve or deny a project,” MWD Vice President Adan Ortega Jr. said. “And so it could complicate things greatly.”

The proposed board could distribute public money and speed up water projects aimed at weaning California from the Colorado River.

Those projects could include a proposal by Cadiz to store Colorado River water under the company’s desert property during periods of surplus and pump the water out later for use by the MWD during shortages.

Brackpool, a close political ally of and fund-raiser for Gov. Gray Davis, is supporting a proposal by Canciamilla and Sen. Jim Costa (D-Fresno) to create a panel made up of gubernatorial appointees to oversee efforts to reduce California’s use of Colorado River water.

Officials of MWD and other major water agencies in the state, along with some leading legislators, said that a legislative panel, not appointees of the governor, should oversee those efforts.

“Why do we need a commission when a legislative committee could do the job?” asked Senate leader John Burton (D-San Francisco).

Under the tentative contract reached last year, Cadiz would earn $500 million in fees over the next 50 years from MWD, which serves 17 million people from Ventura to San Diego. The MWD board is expected to vote in coming months on whether to enter a partnership with Cadiz.

On Aug. 9, the water district’s general manager sent Brackpool a letter reminding him that MWD has not yet committed to a deal.

MWD officials have raised the concern that if the federal government follows through on its warning to cut the amount of water California can take, there won’t be enough surplus Colorado River flow to make the Cadiz storage useful.

Feinstein and other critics of the Cadiz plan fear that the pumping of ground water could badly damage the Mojave Desert ecosystem.

For many years, California has used far more than the 4.4 million acre-feet of water from the Colorado to which it is entitled under a 1934 agreement with six other states. In 1999, in what is known as the “4.4 Plan,” California agreed to shrink its use of the river over 15 years. The U.S. Department of the Interior has threatened to cut off California’s excess supplies if it doesn’t show sufficient progress under that plan by year’s end.

Costa said his bill is aimed at meeting the federal deadline and showing the other states along the river that California is serious.

“We’re left with four months on the time clock, and we have a credibility problem with the upper and lower basin states,” Costa said.

Wendy Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cadiz, which is based in Santa Monica, said it makes sense for the Legislature to get involved.

“As the end of the year draws near and the federal government keeps threatening to cut California and everyone keeps pointing fingers,” she said, “it doesn’t surprise me that some people are starting to look at oversight over the 4.4 Plan.”

She said Brackpool “hasn’t talked to anyone that I know of” about Costa’s legislation.

Burton said Brackpool called him last week to describe the need for oversight of California’s use of the Colorado River.

Davis has long enjoyed Brackpool’s support. He donated $50,000 to Davis in 2000 and again in 2001. In June, he gave him $25,000.