California’s North-South battles over water appear to continue unabated, reducing the likelihood that politicians will agree to place a water project bond measure on the ballot this year.
Three powerful Democratic state senators Wednesday sent a letter to Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger criticizing him for what they described as his unilateral action to begin planning for a so-called Peripheral Canal.
Such a canal would carry Northern California water to the State Water Project, and on to points south, without having the water first flow through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the web of waterways through which the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers enter San Francisco Bay.
Supporters of such a plan say it would allow water to move south without the ecological distortions caused by the giant pumps that suck south through the Delta, threatening to draw in salt water from San Francisco Bay.
Opponents, primarily Northern Californians, tend to think the plan would allow Southern California to draw more water and let the Delta continue its ecological downward spiral.
Wednesday’s letter, signed by Senate President pro tempore Don Perata, D-Oakland, Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, and Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, says the three are “shocked to learn” that the Schwarzenegger administration has acted unilaterally to begin working on a canal plan.
Last week, Schwarzenegger held a high-profile meeting in Sacramento with the state’s senior U.S. senator, Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, in an effort to kick off a renewed drive to place a water infrastructure bond on the ballot through legislative action.
In their letter, the three state senators said they find it difficult to negotiate seriously with the administration.
