Raising the level of regional flood protection is the top priority of the Sacramento Metro Chamber, but our attention is also intensely focused on the rapidly deteriorating Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – a resource that provides water for 25 million Californians, millions of acres of farmland and sensitive species habitat.

The Delta crisis now threatens California's future economic prosperity. Management strategies coupled with increasingly stringent regulatory restrictions and court decisions regarding water flows for wildlife have exacerbated this crisis. It has been more than 40 years since California's leaders have made bold investments in statewide and regional water supply infrastructure necessary to sustain a world-class economy. Meanwhile, our state's population and agriculture production have risen to meet the increased demand for food to feed our population with the assistance of Delta water.

The Metro Chamber believes the solution must ensure that our region's future economic prosperity and quality of life are not jeopardized by an unfair political solution: Restoring the Delta must be done swiftly and in a fair and comprehensive manner.

Moreover, all aspects of a comprehensive Delta solution must move forward concurrently, including ecosystem restoration, water quality enhancements, water conveyance infrastructure, investments in local and regional water supply improvements, and development of new water storage – both for groundwater and surface supplies. Solving this crisis will be expensive, but not solving it will be devastating to California because much of the state's economy depends on water that moves through the Delta.

This comprehensive solution must use all resources at our command. California's water crisis won't be solved by any single measure. A diversified portfolio, structured with an understanding of the differences among our state's diverse regional hydrologic conditions, must be created. We encourage increased investment in groundwater storage, surface storage, conjunctive use, water recycling, desalination and improvements in water conservation.

In Northern California, additional investment in surface and groundwater storage is needed to provide for water supply reliability and desired environmental flows, especially as the state grows. And, the Sacramento region's long-standing commitment to, and investment in, preserving and enhancing the region's economic and environmental vitality and self-sufficiency through cooperative water management must be respected.

We insist on the respect for existing water rights that our region's communities have relied upon and invested in. Protection of area-of- origin water rights is a prerequisite. Delta solutions must include ecosystem restoration and improved Delta conveyance and should be implemented in compliance with California's existing water rights system without creating regulatory or ecosystem restoration burdens unrelated to the source of impacts.

All of this must be managed by a more efficient means of governance for Delta issues. We're not talking about a new layer of bureaucracy or an authoritarian body that attempts to solve the problem of one interest group at the expense of others.

Responsibility and accountability for implementing any Delta solution should reside with those agencies that have implementation authority for resource issues under existing statutes. The function of any new entity should be to coordinate existing authorities, not replace them. The solution must rely upon already existing authorities that work collaboratively. And all decisions made by the regulations established must be based upon credible science.

We believe by working collaboratively that all of this is achievable – we can overcome the north-vs.-south predicament that might otherwise be inherent in the crisis. Here in the Sacramento region, we have seen a high level of cooperation among our six counties that have banded together, overcome jurisdictional cravings and embraced solutions – such as the SACOG Blueprint land use strategy and efforts to achieve 200-year-flood protection – that benefit the entire region.

The Metro Chamber – which represents nearly 2,200 businesses that employ more than 175,000 people – asks you to join us, advocating throughout the entire process. Unless the interests of the Sacramento region and Northern California stand up and voice their opinion in this debate, an unfair political solution will be handed to us, which will likely have a long-lasting negative effect upon our region's economic future.

Matthew R. Mahood is president and CEO of the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce.