[env-trinity] LA Times 10/8 Water Policy Op-Ed

[Byron Leydecker]

Opinion

A heartfelt plea for a sensible water policy

Heal the Bay's founder lays out her vision for a clean and sustainable state
supply.

Los Angeles Times - 10/8/08

By Dorothy Green 

Dorothy Green is founding president of Heal the Bay, the Los Angeles/San
Gabriel River Watershed Council and a founder of the California Water Impact
Network.

 

To everything there is a season; but water is eternal. Or it was, until we
started disturbing its natural rhythms. We penned it behind dams and
diverted it to aqueducts, starving the life out of rivers and creating an
unsupportable addiction to using more water than we need to live. 

Despite the looming crisis in water, we have enough to live on, but not
enough to waste. And waste it we have, with great enthusiasm for lush green
lawns in a desert and a penchant for backroom deals with agribusiness. These
deals end up as sweetheart ones for the moneyed corporate farmers, providing
them with essentially a bountiful private water supply, which they sell off
at a profit, while the rest of us are carefully metered and potentially
rationed.

 

I have spent more than 30 years fighting for clean water and a sustainable
supply for California. As this is being written, I am bedridden, under
hospice care. I am making one last plea for common-sense management of our
water supply in a manner that protects public health and the environment
while sustaining business and agriculture.

How? The state Water Resources Control Board already has the authority --
legal and regulatory -- to manage the state's water resources. But it hasn't
been doing so. For example, it has issued from five to seven times the
amount of water rights than there is available water. It is also responsible
for water rights and quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, yet
10 sewage treatment plants in the delta area discharge treated wastewater
that contains large amounts of pollutants into the water supply. 

The board should be depoliticized and sufficiently funded so that it can do
its duty effectively. It should create a sustainable water plan that has
teeth, with bipartisan support from the governor and the Legislature. This
is how to make this happen:

 

* Create an independent structure for water rights: a water court comprising
three appointed administrative law judges who specialize in water rights to
handle those disputes before the board. Their decision-making must be
consistent with applicable law, but there should be a mandate that they
allocate water according to the actual availability of supply in the state.
They also should review past water-rights decisions to bring them in line
with existing supplies.

* The board should develop a sustainable water plan with accountability.
Enforcement mechanisms would include financial penalties and operating
restrictions for wayward agencies. There also should be an independent and
public biennial assessment of the plan's implementation. 

* The sustainable water plan should include an allocation of water rights
based on available supply; a ban on discharging wastewater into our drinking
water supplies unless it meets Title 22 public health standards for water
recycling (similar to drinking water standards); meter every water use,
including agriculture, not just those of urban dwellers; mandate use of
recycled water throughout the state; mandate low-impact development for all
projects, including transportation, in order to capture storm water on-site
to replenish local groundwater aquifers; and fast-track a groundwater
cleanup program.

* Develop a steady revenue stream to support the water-rights court and the
board. The funding must not be dependent on the general fund budget. There
are a number of fees that support the board, but they are not enough.
Additional funds should come from water supply agencies based on their water
usage.

* Do not approve a deal for a new water bond until these changes have been
put in place. Although past bonds have done some good, they haven't helped
us face the increasing water scarcity caused by climate change and
increasing population.

The time for consensus and compromise has long passed. If there is one thing
I've learned in my lifetime of activism, change doesn't come easily, but
without it, the environment will continue to degrade along with our quality
of life. Don't allow our water future to be decided by special interests.
Anne Frank said, "How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment
before starting to improve the world." I agree. Let's start now.

 

 

Byron Leydecker, JCt

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810

415 519 4810 cell

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://fotr.org 

 <mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net>  

 

 

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