CSPA Advisory - 2.14.08

Chamber of Commerce Proposes Another Bad Water Bond!  

by John Beuttler

The Chamber of Commerce just filed their 5^th water bond intended for the next ballot. They are proposing the bond to fund water development infrastructure we don’t need that would waste billions of taxpayer dollars. So, I’m proposing they should change their name just so we could have a little truth in advertising. How about calling it the “Chamber of Corporate Agriculture”, or maybe it could be called the “Chamber of Horrors” because they don’t seem to care about the commerce of most of the state’s citizens?

True to their long-standing history, their current focus is in the political arena where corporate agriculture has been their dominant focus. The bond they’ve proposed will fund a Peripheral Canal and several new dams. Should the bond pass, it could result in more subsidizes for a very profitable industry at a huge public expense and, very possibly, the end of Delta as we know it.

I’ve yet to see them propose bond to improved commerce for businesses that really need the help such as those in the sport or commercial fishing sector. When did they last propose something to improve the management of the public’s natural resources? Where’s the bond that reduces 3 million acre feet of Delta export so the Delta farmers, the local communities, and all of the people whose jobs and recreation depends on a healthy estuary can recover and once again experience economic viability? You’re not likely to see such a bond because Central Valley corporate growers will always want to maximize their profits by utilizing the public’s water resources.

The Chamber has also failed to deal with how their bond would accommodate the on-going Delta Vision process that was legislatively established to find solutions as to how the Delta can be restored while protecting the public’s water supplies. Delta Vision is now engaged in trying to determine the probable assets and liabilities of the various alternatives and facilities recommend by the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Task Force. Until we know EXACTLY how such infrastructure would or wouldn’t help to restore the Delta and its fishery resources while meeting the public’s reasonable needs for drinking water, we won’t know what, if any, facilities should be built and who should pay for these costs!

According to the Chamber, building a Peripheral Canal and throwing in a few more dams at the public’s expense can solve the problems in the Delta. They have yet to demonstrate that such facilities would be able to restore a sustainable Delta and its fisheries given the current level of export demand. Should you look behind the public relations façade, you might conclude that the primary beneficiary of these facilities would be corporate agriculture because the public only uses 15% of the water exported out of the Delta! How quickly the Chamber jettisons the beneficiary pays principle.

And, then there is the whole issue of pretense. Why did we invested this past year and dedicated this year to the Delta Vision Process? The proposed bond would preempt this effort to find solutions that would work so, hopefully, AN INFORMED DECISION COULD BE MADE. In short, the Chamber’s bond proposals are an end run around the law the legislature passed requiring specific information so the government doesn’t just throw money at a Peripheral Canal. Fortunately, we are not alone in our appraisal of the Chamber’s bond proposals. The editorial from the Sacramento Bee, which follows, says it well.

Editorial: Another day, another bad water bond proposal

Sacramento Bee – 2/10/08

Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of deficits can stay the California Chamber of Commerce from proposing yet another multibillion-dollar water bond.

The chamber's latest – $11.7 billion – was filed Wednesday. Nearly a third of this borrowed money would go to new dams and water storage. Smaller pots of money would go to conservation (11 percent) and water recycling (2 percent).

There's no doubt that California needs to invest in its water future. The top priority should be the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Concerns about troubled fisheries – and cutbacks in Delta water pumping – are setting the stage for decades of more litigious clashes.

Sadly, this latest version by the chamber is only likely to further the divisions. It doesn't offer the balanced approach advocated by the governor's Delta Vision task force, which recently advised that ecosystem restoration and water reliability be "primary, co-equal goals."

The initiative, if passed, would also add $760 million in annual interest payments to the state's budget. How can California afford that?

The key players here are Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The chamber is lobbying both to support its latest initiative. If they did support it, the state's construction firms and trade unions – seeking a fresh source of contracts and jobs from more state borrowing – would be more likely to pour money into the campaign.

This is a lousy way to formulate water policy. Feinstein and Schwarzenegger shouldn't be party to it. But they also shouldn't cater to the do-nothing crowd of the water community. The Delta needs fixing. State leaders need to embrace the measured findings of Delta Vision to move the state beyond water gridlock.

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The author of this editorial probably didn’t know there is a campaign underway seeking to stop the Senator Feinstein and Governor Schwarzenegger from supporting the Chamber’s bonds. Below you’ll find the phone numbers you should call to tell the Governor and Senator that they should not be supporting bad bonds that will not solve the problems in the Delta or its collapsing fishery resources.

You could also mention they should not support Chambers bonds because they would preempt the recommendations from the Governor’s Delta Vision Task Force, and because they would fail to reduce exports from the Delta. That’s all you would need to say. The secretary on the other end will just take your message.

If you live in Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher’s District, please contact her and ask her to let Senator Feinstein know that the Chambers bond initiatives are bad for the California Delta and its fishery resources.

John Beuttler

Senator Diane Feinstein

(415) 393-0707 – San Francisco Office(
(310) 914-7300 – Los Angeles Office
(619) 231-9712 – San Diego Office
(559) 485-7430 – Fresno Office

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger – (916) - 445-2841

Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher

(925) 757-7187 – Antioch Office
(925) 932-8899 – Walnut Creek Office
(707) 428-7792 – Fairfield Office

Thanks for caring enough to take action!

John Beuttler, Conservation Director
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance
1360 Neilson Street
Berkeley, CA 94702 –1116