State Sen. Darrell Steinberg's quiet reshuffling of 150 years of California water policy to bail out Southern California developers and giant agricultural interests to the south threatens the future of this region. In essence, upstream water users like Sacramento will be responsible for paying for the damage to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta from decades of water exports to the south.

The Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District estimates that Steinberg's water legislation could have cost the region's residential ratepayers $1,000 a year in increased fees to pay for damage caused by the construction of a peripheral canal, if one is built. After the legislation was passed the district received assurances from Steinberg that the region wouldn't be stuck with the tab, but this is just one of the potential problems buried in the fine print of this so-called "comprehensive reform." This reform was negotiated in secret and was not reviewed in a policy or budget committee hearing where the measure could be amended.

A so-called "information hearing" rushed before the full Senate just before the vote gave the public just one minute to testify on the final bond "mock-up" measure. The public was not provided with the actual final language. There was no public participation in amendments or a public committee vote.

You wouldn't buy a car like this.

There's no paperwork and no detailed analysis of the effects of the legislation. Instead, the package was rushed to the governor's desk before anyone could understand the ramifications of the 116-page water giveaway. The fact that the city and county of Sacramento, SMUD, city of West Sacramento and regional entities opposed this legislation was ignored by Steinberg. He chose between being the head of the Senate's heavily loaded Southern California and San Joaquin Valley Democratic caucus and his constituents. His statewide ambitions prevailed.

Budget cuts are costing us teachers, police and firefighters. Steinberg's ill-fated attempt to quietly slip $10 million into the pork-laden water bond for his own pet project – the Unity Center – has nothing to do with water. This is beyond comprehension.

The annual interests and principle payments on this pork-filled, $11 billion water bond approach $600 million a year. It is unconscionable that legislative leaders would use public bond monies to buy votes for their so-called "reform" and threaten already-cash-strapped schools and social programs.

Hidden behind the peripheral canal rhetoric of "restoring and protecting" the Delta is a "we-had-to-destroy-the-Delta-to-save- it" mentality. The legislation delivers contradictory "co-equal" promises of "more reliable water" to Southern California and giant Westlands agricultural interests in the Central Valley while "protecting, restoring and enhancing the Delta ecosystem."

This contradictory co-equal promise seems to come right out of Roman Polanski's classic movie "Chinatown." The numbers don't add up for the Delta, the Sacramento region or Northern California. "Betrayal" is a charitable description.

The water bond, and the other bills that might pave the way for a peripheral canal, could deliver to Steinberg's constituents:

• Rate hikes for drinking water and sewage disposal.

• Undermined county and regional habitat and species conservation programs.

• A guarantee of water for Southern California on the back of Northern California.

The ultimate irony of all of this political vote trading is that Steinberg's actions illuminate the cause of the abysmal 13 percent public approval rating for the Legislature's performance. How can anyone respect an institution that waives its own rules and rushes to rewrite 150 years of water policy through a secret agreement without allowing any meaningful public participation, no published analysis and no scrutiny?

Where do we go from here? Let's hope voters reject the $11 billion bond measure in November 2010. But that's not enough. A carefully crafted referendum on the water policy bills should be considered for placement on the ballot so the people can have a say in these important issues. And in the June primary, voters in Steinberg's Senate district will get the opportunity to choose a Democratic nominee who actually represents his region – the city of Sacramento, parts of Elk Grove, Citrus Heights and Rancho Cordova.

Mark Wilson served on the stakeholders' advisory group to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force and was appointed by the governor to the Delta Protection Commission in January 2008 as the representative for agriculture.