PCL: Water package brings subsidies, not solutions

"In the middle of the night while most Californians were sound asleep, the state legislature passed a package of bills and a bond that rewards bad actors instead of solving the water needs of real people and the environment. The corner piece of the new deal is an $11.1 Billion taxpayer-funded scheme that will appear on the November 2010 ballot.

We are extremely disappointed that the Legislature passed up an opportunity to make real progress on addressing our state's water needs. The Planning and Conservation League's main objective in negotiations on the Delta package has been to secure dedicated instream water flows through the Delta and the San Francisco Bay for endangered and threatened fish populations.

Instead the Legislature capitulated to pressure from big corporate water interests and passed a package full of outdated ideas and the same policies that have lead to the current crisis. In the end, the original goal of substantive water reform to restore the fragile Delta ecosystem does not come through in this package.

Instead of dedicating the water flows that endangered and threatened fish species in the Delta need to recover, the package leaves Californians with no regulatory assurance that water will be there for the fish - even the legislatures' own staff told them this portion of the bill was unenforceable. This will worsen the fishery collapse and lead to even more restrictions on water supplies.

Instead of insisting on reducing reliance on unstable Delta water, the package continues the status quo of unsustainable pumping that will further devastate the fishery and lead to more litigation.

Instead of holding people accountable when they illegally divert water, the package makes it harder for state agencies to enforce the law.

Instead of asking the beneficiaries to pay for new water projects, this package relies on more borrowing and for the first time ever allows taxpayer subsidies for new destructive dams that will cripple our environment and our economy.

While the policy bills represent a missed opportunity, the passage of an $11 Billion bond was most shocking. Incredibly, the Legislature once again pulled out the taxpayers' credit card even after the State Treasurer warned them the state has already gone over the limit for responsible borrowing. Even more disheartening is that they did this after the independent Legislative Analyst staff gave clear warning that the $700 million annual debt service would result in annual General Fund program cuts equal to one-fourth of the entire UC Educational System or three times the budget of the Department of Public Health.

With this package, powerful interests will get billions of our dollars for pet projects that they would not pay for if they had to use their own money. For instance, billions of dollars would be used to build destructive dam projects that are so cost inefficient, even the few that could benefit won't pay for them.

"The Planning and Conservation League is disappointed that the Legislature hung the fate of endangered Delta fish species out to dry. Next November it will be the voters' turn to tell these powerful interests No - No to more binge borrowing, No to more subsidies, and No to devastating the Bay Delta ecosystem," said Charlotte Hodde, Water Program Manager, Planning and Conservation League.

The Planning and Conservation League (The League) partners with hundreds of California environmental organizations to provide an effective voice in Sacramento for sound planning and responsible environmental policy at the state level."