Voters thirsty for drought’s end should favor water bond




On Election Day, Nov. 4, first on your scorecard will be Proposition I, the $7.5-billion state water bond.

Notwithstanding the importance of the candidate races, a referendum on our water infrastructure is the single most important item on the 2014 ballot. The drought is insidious, and it’s time to do something about it, state lawmakers have decided.

Question is, will voters want to attack the drought with their pocketbooks?

In 2010, a more than $11-billion water bond didn’t even make it to the ballot out of respect for recession-weary voters. Today, the state’s general fund is in much better position to afford the bond and see it through. And with some $4 billion in pork projects cut from the 2010 measure, the new bond is leaner and meaner.

“Everyone took a haircut this time and reduced their amount,” state Sen. Fran Pavley told The Acorn last week.

The new bond also looks attractive because grants will be competitive (less pork handout) and many of the projects will fall under local control.

Speaking of local, what’s in it for us?

With the Sierra snowpack drying up and improvements to the Bay Delta mired in political fighting, the bond seeks to encourage other key sources such as groundwater. Some $900 million will go toward groundwater sustainability and cleanup in areas that include Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. Stormwater management in the eastern Ventura County, western Los Angeles County area also will get a boost.

“We have to be more sustainable and learn how to live within the possibilities of this scarce resource,” Pavley said.

Protecting rivers, lakes, coastal waters and watersheds will receive $1.5 billion in bond money. Local storage, conservation and recycling are on the list, too.

In the Conejo Valley, all of our supplies come from the State Water Project, and unfortunately the politically charged Bay Delta Conservation Plan—a massive improvement project that is still being debated in Sacramento—is not a beneficiary of the water bond. Still, the bond is good because its many conservation and infrastructure projects promise to take pressure off the Bay Delta. In that sense, it deserves the support of all Southern Californians who rely on the delta water.

In the final analysis, we can build all the reservoirs and dams we want, but these projects still need rain to the fill them up.

Pray for rain—but first vote yes on Proposition 1.



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