Ballot delay for water bond?

Lawmakers will not get a $10 billion water bond deal done in time for the Feb. 5 ballot, the leader of the state Senate said Wednesday.

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has canceled a planned vote next week and said that he will now focus on trying to get a bond on the June or November ballot.

"I'm disappointed, but we are closer to having it done than not," Perata, D-Oakland, said in an interview. "We just need more time."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, ever the optimist, is still holding out hope for a deal, even though it's already five days past the deadline set by Secretary of State Debra Bowen.

"Obviously the window is closing on our ability to get this on the February ballot," said Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear. But "we will keep pushing for that until it is no longer a possibility."

Perata only a week ago had expressed optimism on getting the deal done for February. But Schwarzenegger – who has made a water bond a top priority this year – has failed to broker a compromise between Democrats and Republicans.

Significant hurdles remain, including a dispute over who would oversee bond spending.

Declaring a looming water shortage crisis, the governor called a special session on water more than two months ago after lawmakers failed to reach a deal in the regular session.

Talks stalled for much of the session as Republicans fought for money for dams, including a proposed reservoir near Fresno. Negotiations heated up in recent days between Perata and the Governor's Office, which was negotiating on behalf of Republican lawmakers.

Perata said he felt he was close to an agreement with the Schwarzenegger administration. But GOP lawmakers were never fully on board.

"I thought this arrangement was one that was satisfying the parties of interest," Perata said. But "that was clearly not the case."

He said he will now bypass the governor and negotiate directly with Republicans and Assembly Democrats, who have been less involved. Both Democratic and Republican votes are needed to reach the two-thirds vote necessary to place the bond before voters.

The two parties have generally agreed to a framework in which dams would compete for about $3 billion. Other bond money would go for regional water projects and ecosystem fixes to the deteriorating Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Democrats want to be able to oversee the bond spending on a yearly basis. Republicans, fearing that Democrats will pull the dam money, are seeking a continuous appropriation.

"We've been promised we're going to get storage ... and it's never happened," said Senate Republican leader Dick Ackerman of Irvine. "If we do something this time it's got to be in there – it's got to be definite."

Ackerman also said he wants authorization for a canal that would pipe water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California – a project that water interests have fought over for decades.

With some progress being made, Perata said he will forgo for the "time being" his effort to put a bond on the ballot via a signature-gathering effort. His plan, which does not earmark money for dams, has support from environmentalists.

A coalition of business and farm groups has been eyeing a competing initiative that would include money for dams. The initiative had not been filed as of Wednesday afternoon.

"We have the landmark opportunity to address these issues in a bipartisan manner and I believe it can be done," Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, who has been involved in the business-led initiative, said in a statement. "We must fill California's tool box with all the implements we need to avert a water crisis."

The urgency has been fueled by a recent court ruling to reduce Delta water pumping. The decision – designed to protect an endangered fish – could lead in average years to a 35 percent cut in deliveries to San Joaquin Valley farmers and urban water users in the Bay Area and Southern California, state officials have said.

Republicans say dams are the only way to address the state's water supply needs. Democrats have argued for groundwater storage, recycling and conservation.

The governor originally proposed to set aside money for three dams: Temperance Flat northeast of Fresno, Sites Reservoir in Colusa County and the expansion of the Los Vaqueros Reservoir, about 11 miles north of Livermore.

Under the latest proposal, the projects would be funded only if they meet certain criteria, such as if they are found to help regulate freshwater flows into the Delta.

Environmentalists are pushing for the projects to be analyzed by a variety of agencies, with the Democratic-controlled Legislature having the final say. But Republicans don't trust Democrats to determine that dams are the best solution.

Perata said a potential compromise is to establish an independent commission to oversee the spending.

About the writer:

• Call E.J. Schultz, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5541.