For residents of the North Bay
and NorthCoast
regions, what's the impact of a grand compromise - if there is one - on water
in Sacramento?
Most obvious is the bill.
Neither Sonoma
nor Marin counties get any water from the state project. Neither do the counties
farther up the coast. They would, however, have to help pay off $9.4 billion in
state bond debt needed to buy the new plumbing.
So should the bonds be an automatic no vote for NorthCoast
voters? Not necessarily.
There may not be much sympathy for Southern California
swimming pools, and there's plenty of reasons to have mixed feelings about Central Valley farmers, some of whom use their subsidized
water to grow surplus crops to be sold into federal commodity price support
programs.
But a plan that also emphasizes restoration of the
deteriorating Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta might be worth paying for. And it
might pay dividends for sport and commercial fishermen, two NorthCoast
mainstays, if a healthier delta can reverse the decline in Sacramento
River salmon fisheries. Salmon are the real issue in the Delta,
but it's easier for those only interested in shipping more water south to
demonize smelt.
Does the plan unveiled in Sacramento this week pass that test? I'm want
to hear more about it before I decide. What do you think?
This is another huge subsidy for the building industry. If you go to the website of the building industry association you will see that they have been screaming about a "reliable water supply". They need it to continue their profit making activities. With this bill they get it at our expense.
Local governments recover a fraction of what they spend to expand sewer, water, schools, parks, streets and roads, and other things that additional population creates a need for through developer impact fees. The state recovers nothing at all from developers for the cost of expanding water systems (such as this), the state college and university system, state highways and parks to accommodate the additional population. No wonder the state is broke!
This is another huge subsidy for the building industry. If you go to the website of the building industry association you will see that they have been screaming about a "reliable water supply". They need it to continue their profit making activities. With this bill they get it at our expense.
Local governments recover a fraction of what they spend to expand sewer, water, schools, parks, streets and roads, and other things that additional population creates a need for through developer impact fees. The state recovers nothing at all from developers for the cost of expanding water systems (such as this), the state college and university system, state highways and parks to accommodate the additional population. No wonder the state is broke!