Water Bond May Be Given A New Look
It appears increasingly likely that California’s twice-delayed water bond proposal will undergo some sort of trimming or other modification before it finally reaches the statewide ballot. Action last year by the Legislature moved the water bond vote from the 2012 to 2014 general election. It previously had been delayed from going before voters in 2010.
Both delays were attributed to the recession and the state’s precarious financial condition.
Since the election there has been increased discussion on the bond and how or whether it should be modified.
Four legislative proposals for revising the bond are being advanced by state legislators. Relatively few of the Legislature’s current members were in office when the bond and related water bills were enacted on a bipartisan basis in 2009.
Friant Water Authority officials are now examining the current Authority-supported $11.4 billion bond proposal’s provisions with an eye toward making suggestions on how the bond could be revised and trimmed while retaining broad statewide public water supply and infrastructure benefits.
“Our analysis thus far has been directed at seeing if we can identify possible acceptable modifications,” FWA General Manager Ronald D. Jacobsma said.
For many months in 2009, Friant leaders worked closely with the State Legislature, then-Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration and other water, agriculture and business leaders in framing the bond’s language and provisions.