Water Issues Dominate AGC’s Public Officials Night

By Robert Carlsen

Though traffic congestion and affordable housing top the list of Californians’ major concerns, some state public officials have water – and the lack thereof – on their minds.

At the Associated General Contractors of California’s Public Officials Night in Oakland recently, hosted by Russell Snyder, AGC manager of the East Bay and North Bay districts, three assembly members, a community college trustee and a county supervisor hashed over issues affecting the construction industry and clashed over how and when to get infrastructure projects, utilizing the $37 billion 1A-E bonds approved by voters last November, going.

But it was the state’s water system that got most of the attention.

Reacting to a state Dept. of Finance estimate that 15 million people will be moving into California between now and 2020, the panelists outlined ways to accommodate the influx.

“They’re coming and we can’t bury our heads in the sand any longer,” says assembly member Guy Houston (R-San Ramon).

The assembly members had spent the day in Sacramento during a special session called by Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger to deal with the state’s water issues. The Republicans in the assembly want a ballot measure for the Feb. 5 presidential primary that includes partial state funding of at least three dams – in the Sites Reservoir north of Sacramento, the Temperance Flat Reservoir in the foothills near Fresno, and the expansion of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir built by Contra Costa County.

But the Democrats are sticking with a proposal that calls for more conservation and underground storage.

Therein lies the impasse (at least at press time).

“We need to fix the Delta,” says Tomi van de Brooke, trustee, Ward II, Contra Costa Community College District. “We need dams to regulate flow north and south.”

Houston says the state has done many studies in the past and the main thing is “we need more storage.”

Finding a way to do it, though, will not be easy since the state’s population has varied degrees of concern, which would affect the outcome of a bond vote.

“In the Bay Area, there is a concerted conservation effort, the Central Valley is worried, especially about the levees and snow runoff, and in Southern California they have no clue – they think about water in terms of turning on their taps or opening a bottle,” Houston says.

Assembly member Sandre Swanson (D-Oakland) adds that when the Republicans say “three dams or no deal, drawing a line in the sand like that means nothing gets done.”

Although a compromise proposal may be forthcoming, if not for the primary then next election cycle, assembly member Mark DeSaulnier (D-Martinez) advocates letting the scientific community and water districts make recommendations.

But delaying fixing the state’s water system could also bring on disaster sooner than many think, says Mike Reagan, Solano County supervisor. “I think you need to tie in flood control on this issue,” he says. “If global warming means higher sea levels, we’re talking about saline intrusion into the Delta.”

On another subject – the late July ruling by the California Air Resources
Board about more restrictive off-road diesel engine emissions – the public officials worked vigorously to distance themselves from the decision.

DeSaulnier, who has served on the CARB board for 10 years prior to running for office, says the ruling was just “bad timing.”

“The governor was putting pressure on the board to pass the ruling,” he says, “but we have lots of opportunity to provide for the implementation by adding tax credits and other incentives.

“We must continue the conversation [with the construction industry]. What we don’t want to do is put businesses out of business.”

Reagan says that the board pretty much forgot about “economic realities and the collateral damage of a pretty draconian decision.”

Houston claims that California has cleaner air than a lot of other states and it’s “not right to squash the industry like this.

“I’m sure the industry will, when the time comes for equipment replacements, buy the best. But I think it’s unfair to not treat everyone the same, large and small fleets, and pass rules with no idea of the ramifications.”