Water Districts Send Alternative Plan to Davis

A day after the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California sent a proposal to Gov. Gray Davis aimed at reviving stalled negotiations over a major water deal, three rival water districts sent a competing plan Wednesday to the governor.

The new proposal by the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District and Imperial Irrigation District differs in matters of money, timing and sense of urgency.

The three districts’ proposal includes an offer of an additional $30 million to pay for environmental projects linked to the sale of water from Imperial to San Diego.

It also calls for the sale to begin almost immediately and labels the sale crucial to the state’s water picture.

“It is imperative that the four agencies meet with you and Sen. [Michael] Machado to complete these critical agreements to ensure water supply reliability to all of California,” said a joint letter sent to Davis.

Machado (D-Linden) is chairman of the Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee.

The Metropolitan proposal suggested a surcharge on the four districts that could raise more than $800 million over 35 years. The plan also showed a willingness to delay the sale until environmental issues are resolved and suggested that the sale, while significant, “is not essential” for the state.

The plan offered by the San Diego, Coachella and Imperial water districts asserts that the Metropolitan proposal unfairly shifted the financial burden of the deal away from Metropolitan and toward the three smaller agencies.

The gap between the two proposals is part of a dispute between Metropolitan and the others that threatens to sink a water deal that until the last year seemed all but finalized. Metropolitan is key to any agreement because it owns the aqueduct needed to bring part of Imperial Valley’s mammoth allocation from the Colorado River to San Diego County.

Davis, who supports the sale of water from Imperial to San Diego, has asked the four agencies to reach a compromise.

The sale is meant to allow California to live within its annual allotment of water from the Colorado River -- shared with six other states.

After the failure of the agencies to reach agreement last year, the Bush administration moved to reduce the state’s annual allocation; the Imperial district is fighting that move in federal court.

Despite what would appear to be an increasingly wide philosophic gap between the agencies, Davis sought to strike a tone of optimism Wednesday.

“We’ve come a long way,” he said in a prepared statement. “We are close to a resolution.”