Standing in the Way

According to the January 7 San Diego Union-Tribune, newly-elected Assemblyman Jared Huffman, the former Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) lawyer, began questioning the motive behind Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to increase water storage in California before the plan was even announced. Another NRDC staffer, Barry Nelson, trumpeted the plan as a conspiracy by farmers to get a “billion-dollar handout” in the form of subsidized water. Their comments came in response to an article in the San Diego Union-Tribune (1/7/07) that previewed the Governor’s plan prior to his formal announcement before the Legislature.

Nelson went on to say that environmentalists have received too much blame for stalling reservoirs and that the fault is with urban water agencies unwilling to pay their share.

Can you believe it? Nothing has stood in the way of new water development more than hard-core environmental groups. Urban and agricultural water agencies have been very open about their willingness to pay for any water benefits they receive from new projects. The rub comes when water agencies are asked to pay for public benefits, such as environmental projects when they are clearly a public benefit and ones for which the public should pay.

People like Huffman and Nelson want the public to believe that farms have unfairly benefited from past water projects, such as the federal Central Valley Project or the State Water Project. What they don’t say is that farmers have been paying for the water they receive and are willing to pay their fair share of the costs for any new water delivered from new water projects.

It is my opinion that hard-core environmentalists want to prevent – yes, stop - any new water development in California. By doing so, they know that the inevitable growth the state will experience in coming years will ultimately get its water from the supply that currently goes to farms. That is an unbalanced approach to planning and a cowardly way to address the needs of the next generation.

What this state needs is a balanced approach to meeting its resource needs. Conservation and recycling programs have done a tremendous job of meeting new growth while only a small amount of new water has been developed in the past 30 years. That can’t go on forever. If we don’t develop more water to meet our needs through the 21st century we’re going to have to meet new water supply needs by taking water away from an existing water user. That somebody is the California farmer and he or she is being sacrificed for tomorrow’s growth by people like Jared Huffman and Barry Nelson.

If people like Huffman and Nelson had their way, the sign at the border would say, “Welcome to California. Bring your own food.”