Governor signs $11B water bond

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed a far-reaching water bond passed last week by the California Legislature intended to restore the ailing estuary at the heart of the state’s water system.

“The good part is that people have not lost sight of the need for the state to come up with its contribution to remove the dams on the Klamath,” Yurok Tribe Policy Analyst Troy Fletcher said of the water bond. “I don’t know exactly how that will play out, but the Yurok Tribe will work hard to see that the Klamath contribution from the state becomes reality.”

The dams block about 300 miles of salmon spawning habitat on the upper Klamath River, and an agreement to remove them starting in 2020 hinges on California voters passing a bond for most of the $450 million removal cost. PacifiCorp ratepayers in Oregon and California will shoulder the remaining $200 million.

Standing against the backdrop of a dwindling Sierra Nevada reservoir, the governor Monday vowed to mount an all-out campaign to persuade voters they should approve the $11 billion measure on next November’s ballot.

Environmentalists and some fiscal conservatives have raised concerns about the measure, which seeks to increase California’s water supply by building new dams and underground storage to save up water in dry years.

In recent months, officials in Oregon, Washington and even California have agreed to spend millions to dismantle colossal dams built decades ago in order to protect native fish species, following legal tussles over water between the federal government, environmentalists, Indian tribes and farmers.

In the San Joaquin Valley, where most of the nation’s fruits and vegetables are grown, farmers warn that their crops will wither if the government doesn’t build a second reservoir above Friant Dam, which was built in the 1940s to nurture croplands below.

“For decades, Californians have been fighting about water,” Schwarzenegger said. “I’ve heard the pleas of the people here from this valley, I have heard the pleas of the people of the state of California, and I think the legislators have heard those pleas as well. So I am here to tell all of you help is on the way.”

The bond bill is one of five bills passed last week in Sacramento, but it will not become law unless voters approve it on next November’s ballot. Aside from new money to upgrade aging canals and pumps, the landmark package includes funds to restore the ecologically fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, promote water conservation and monitor groundwater.

Environmentalists and some fiscal conservatives have raised concerns about the milestone water deal, which also sets aside $3 billion that can be used to increase California’s water supply by building new dams and underground storage.

Among the leading candidates for taxpayer funds is Temperance Flat, which would be built in the narrow canyon above Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River, northeast of Fresno. It could hold up to 1.3 million acre feet of water, which local officials and farmers say is crucial to satisfy agriculture and a growing population.

A three-year drought, coupled with environmental restrictions on the amount of water that can be pumped south from the delta, have given new urgency to the debate as farmers have had to idle hundreds of thousands of acres of croplands and lay of thousands of farmworkers. Cities, too, have been forced to ration water supplies, and demand will only grow as California’s population is projected to soar to 60 million by 2050.

“This is one of the most fertile areas of God’s green earth and it’s going to stay that way because Democrats and Republicans crossed the aisle and made it happen,” said comedian Paul Rodriguez, an ally of the governor’s who plans to stump for the water bond on late-night talk shows in coming months. “It’s going to be difficult to tax yourselves, but this is what we’re asking you to do.”

Still, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation recently found that the proposal to build a second dam there barely meets the federal government’s criteria for projects to be deemed cost effective.

And the existing dam has spawned problems. Last month, the government began an ambitious plan to restore the dry river channel beneath it, releasing water flows aimed at reawakening the state’s second-largest river so salmon can flourish there once again.

“It’s somewhat ironic that they’re signing the bill and celebating the possibility for more dams at a place that has been such a problem for fish species,” said Jim Metropulos, a senior advocate with the Sierra Club, which opposed the water bond.

Triplicate staff writer Nick Grube contributed to this report.