Everyone agrees that California's water system is broken. The Bay Delta ecosystem has collapsed. It's not just little fish like Delta smelt that are being wiped out. The magnificent salmon have now been put on the same trajectory to extinction. And cities, farms and businesses are rightly concerned about the reliability of our water supplies.

Unfortunately, the way politicians are currently approaching these problems is only going to make the problem worse, not better. That is why so many environmentalists, farmers, fishermen, business leaders, water districts and labor groups are opposing the package of bills being rammed through the state Legislature.

The first problem is the secret nature of the negotiations being held behind closed doors. New bills that would commit taxpayers to repaying billions of dollars of borrowing are springing up daily. Legislators are being told to be ready to vote on new laws even before they are printed. Long-standing rules for public hearings are being overridden to prevent taxpayers from seeing what is being considered.

Even after slashing tens of billions of dollars from health, education and public safety services, this week these politicians will try to use the taxpayers' credit card to approve billions of dollars more to pay for a bloated and flawed water policy.

They are trying to mandate that we pay more than $9 billion (actually closer to $20 billion including interest) on projects that would be picked by a handful of political appointees selected by this governor. The independent Legislative Analyst's Office pointed out that under state law, repayment of this debt is a higher priority than virtually every other taxpayer obligation.

The LAO estimates that the annual payments could be as much as $600 million. That is more than three times this year's general fund budget for the Department of Public Health, and approximately a quarter of the University of California and California State University budgets.

The most tragic aspect is that even if the billions were borrowed and spent, it would not restore the Delta or improve water supply reliability.

The bond bills and accompanying policy bills provide no enforceable guarantees that sufficient water will remain in the Delta to allow healthy fisheries. Future conservation improvements would be reduced to "targets" to be achieved decades away. A new peripheral canal could be dug out in an area partly below current sea level.

The Planning and Conservation League agrees that action is needed now. That is why we are supporting a specific set of near-term actions for immediate and real improvements using existing funds. These include cost-effective projects such as fish screens to significantly reduce fish mortality at the pumps in the South Delta that send water to Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, and strategic changes in some Delta water channels to allow water diversions to other areas of the state while keeping fish out of harm's way.

In the next 90 days we will be working with engineers, hydrologists, water exporters, Delta residents and others to finalize an affordable water program. By this January, we will be ready to share a realistic plan accomplished at lesser cost by effective improvements in water conveyance, creating local jobs for water projects that increase self-sustainability, and an environmental stewardship that we can pass on to our children and grandchildren.

Jonas Minton is the water policy adviser to the Planning and Conservation League, a nonprofit lobbying organization in Sacramento.