[env-trinity] Trinity Journal Editorial: No on Proposition 1; it fails to protect North State waters

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.trinityjournal.com/opinion/editorials/article_4f7bf1d0-5410-11e4-83a2-0017a43b2370.html 

No on Proposition 1; it fails to protect North State waters
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2014 6:15 am
There’s a lot to like in Proposition 1 on the November ballot. The bond measure would provide $2.7 billion to help finance new water storage, including the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County. It would provide billions for groundwater cleanup and management, watershed restoration, water recycling projects, advanced water treatment and seawater desalinization projects.
What it doesn’t do is provide any protection for North State waters and fisheries. Like the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and Gov. Jerry Brown’s ill-fated twin tunnel proposal, there’s nothing in the measure that protects the reservoirs and rivers of the North State.
That alone would have us encouraging a “No” vote, but there’s much more to dislike:
► It adds billions in debt at a time California can scarcely afford it.
► It burdens taxpayers across the state to mostly benefit Central Valley farms and communities, in violation of State Water Project policies and common sense.
► In a twist of logic that only government can conceive, the measure requires taxpayers to buy water the public already owns to protect fish and the environment. We’ve argued long and hard that water speculators should not benefit by selling excess North State water without some benefits returning north. A transfer fee on resale, perhaps?
► Roughly 7 percent of the bond will be spent to provide safe drinking water and clean water programs to disadvantaged communities. This is good, but far too little, too late, and represents a pittance of what is needed.
► Likewise, not enough of the bond targets the long-lasting, sustainable regional projects which would be a better answer to California’s water woes.
Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, has said Proposition 1 “is a poster-child of why California is in a water crisis: it enriches water speculators but accomplishes little in addressing the drought, solving California’s long-term water needs, reducing reliance on The Delta, or protecting our rivers and fisheries.”
For all of the above reasons, we urge a “No” vote on Proposition 1.
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