The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is deteriorating. Fisheries are failing and Delta lands are sinking. Water quality is lower than before. The state's water supply is threatened by drought, climate change and the specter of earthquakes. At the same time, cities, farms and protectors of the ecosystem are all demanding more water.

Something has to give.

Unfortunately, decisions about water use and allocation are divided among the federal and state governments, water districts, water-rights holders and judges who render decisions repeatedly when warring parties can't reach agreement. No one is happy with the status quo, but seemingly no one can make decisions that solve problems.

Leadership is required.

Under the Capitol dome, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg have provided that necessary leadership. They have been guided by a rational analysis and a set of recommendations formulated by the Governor's Blue Ribbon Panel headed by former Delta legislator Phil Isenberg.

This analysis calls for two fundamental changes:

• Commit in law to the twin public policy goals of protection of the Delta environment and a reliable water supply.

• Streamline the governance structure for managing the Delta and the water system.

When I was elected to the Assembly in 1980, one looming issue was absolutely black and white to me: the peripheral canal.

I knew that I was against it, and that was that.

In 1982, I voted "no" in the Legislature on the bill to authorize the conveyance facility around the Delta. After Gov. Jerry Brown signed the legislation, I was active in the referendum campaign to reject the new law. Northern counties overwhelmingly voted against the canal proposal, swamping the tepid support in the south state.

The tension between the north and the south, between the Delta and everywhere else, has not gone away. But the state can commit to balancing the needs of all. To do so, it makes sense to have a new Delta Stewardship Council composed of seven members who must, as a matter of law, be guided by the twin goals of environmental protection and water delivery.

Only one member of this council will be designated based on a specific qualification: The chairman of the Delta Protection Commission will serve on it automatically.

The water policy package now pending in the Legislature, shepherded by Steinberg, would create this council. The legislation is the first comprehensive water package in years, and along with bringing some coherance to Delta decisions, it would improve upon governance structures already in place.

The Delta Protection Commission, created in 1992 by legislation I authored, would continue to plan and regulate land uses on the Delta islands for the benefit of farming, wildlife habitat and recreation.

Under the proposed legislation, the composition of the commission would be changed to increase local government representation. Delta residents would have a clear majority.

In addition, there would be a Delta Conservancy to channel funding to projects that directly benefit the islands and their residents.

The proposal acknowledges that water debates are more geographically determined than they are partisan. Regional differences will produce competing proposals. It is essential that a new decision-making framework be passed into law as soon as possible.

Will there ever be a peripheral canal?

I don't know. But I do know that if legislators fail to act because they think it is politically tough to support a new Delta Council, they will be making a big mistake.

Inaction today means in future years, they will have to vote directly on levels of water delivery, vote to allow endangered fish species to die, and choose between competing regional interests, each of which demands "me first."

A new governance system is a better way to make judgments than what exists now.

Patrick Johnston, a member of the Delta Protection Commission, is a former state legislator from San Joaquin County.