Do the Water Deal Now

After five years of talk, it’s time for state and federal officials to make the tough decisions on the future of water resources in California. Every month that drags by without agreement brings the state closer to the inevitable drought that will slash supplies to farmers, businesses and families.

Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt will return to Sacramento Wednesday in an attempt to force the negotiations to a conclusion. Gov. Gray Davis’ team should be ready to meet Babbitt halfway on several key issues and break the stalemate.

The process is known as Cal-Fed, and its goal is to develop a plan that will assure reliable water supplies through dry periods, improve the quality of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by the giant state and federal water projects, and restore the environment of the delta and its tributaries after years of damage by heavy pumping to San Joaquin Valley farms and the homes of 16 million Southern Californians.

Cal-Fed was formed in 1995 after state and federal officials and a cross section of California water leaders agreed that no one could emerge a winner from continued water warfare. Since then, talks involving urban water authorities such as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, agricultural interests, environmentalists, scientists and others have sought to reconcile long-standing disputes.

A key element of the system is the development of new storage projects, primarily in underground basins. The complex program would be implemented over 30 years at an expected cost of at least $8 billion.

The Cal-Fed talks went well so long as they centered on long-range concepts. All parties seemed to agree that each might have to sacrifice something. But they began to dig in their heels as they got into the details of what facilities might have to be built, how much water was needed to protect the environment and--a key sticking point--who would pay for it all.

The talks went behind closed doors last year as the Clinton and Davis administrations attempted to get the process moving again. The farmers now are demanding more water to make up for supplies lost--by congressional order--to protect salmon and are insisting on construction of new dams and storage reservoirs to augment supplies. But dam-building is a relic of the 20th century. All other options, including more economical use of farm irrigation water, should be explored first. Cal-Fed was supposed to seek innovative solutions to water management.

In Washington, Babbitt is determined to send a plan to President Clinton before he leaves office. In Sacramento, Davis’ aides are noncommittal in public. The cautious Davis knows that previous governors have plunged into volatile water issues at great political peril. The perception is that Davis is too cozy with agricultural interests; one of his water negotiators is a congressman representing a farm-rich San Joaquin Valley district and another is a private water entrepreneur.

This may be the last opportunity for decades to adopt a balanced water plan that will protect California against drought, restore the environment and provide the supplies needed to keep the state’s economy healthy. Babbitt and Davis have a responsibility to future generations of Californians to get the job done now.