Schwarzenegger's latest water plan sinking in Senate

The last-ditch water bond proposal Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger floated mid-week appears a nonstarter in the Senate, where a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said there was "no concession" in the proposal.

Earlier this week, the Senate derailed both the governor's water bond (in a committee vote with Democrats opposed) and Perata's water bond (in a floor vote with Republicans opposed). A water bond, which requires a two-thirds vote of both houses, would have to be passed before Oct. 16 to be placed on the February ballot.

"Everybody knows that storage is the gap between the two sides here. We feel this represents a compromise," said Aaron McLear, press secretary to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The governor's latest water bond plan tosses out the previous framework in which three dam locations were identified for funding, Temperance Flat, Site and Los Vaqueros. The new language, published on Thursday on Capitol Alert, would allow $3.5 billion in funds to go to as many as four dam sites (adding the Delta Wetlands Project), but have those projects compete with other options, including the Democrats' preferred groundwater storage.

But Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Perata, said, "the fine print of the new language clearly designates the peripheral canal and dams for funding." The Sierra Club's Jim Metropulos agreed, saying his organization is opposed to the new Schwarzenegger measure.

Specifically, the language says sites for funding must provide "measurable improvements to the Delta ecosystem" and will be prioritized according to five listed criteria, one of which is "recreational purposes." Democrats say that criteria can only be met with dams. (You can't recreate, after all, at an underground water storage facility).

McLear dismissed that criticism. "The projects are chosen based on which sites have the greatest public benefit," he said. Recreational purpose is only one of five - and the last one at that. McLear said underground storage has "just as a good a shot as above ground storage" in the latest plan.

Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman said both he and Sen. Dave Cogdill, the GOP point-man on water, are in favor the governor's new plan.

"This still takes care of our storage issue," Ackerman said.

Therein lies the rub: Any plan needs Democratic and Republican support - and the support of one side (pro-dams) seems to alienate the other (anti-dams), and vice-versa.

"Sen. Perata's proposal delivers more water supply at a much lower price," said Trost. "Unless we see an honest effort by the governor and Republicans to compromise, we will continue to move our plan forward as an initiative."