Proposition
proposes to improve water quality
By Toby Lewis
On-line Forty-Niner
The
question of water supply and quality in
California has become a serious issue, given
the population of the state, which is currently
at 25 million people and is projected to
nearly double by 2040.
Proposition 50, if it is passed, will provide
funding for public and private organizations
to conduct research in an effort to increase
the water supply and quality while at the
same time protect the environment.
Some of these projects include coastal wetland
restoration and protection, cleaning up
contaminated water supplies and replacing
outdated equipment with up-to-date technologies
to better use existing water supplies and
help create new ones.
“Funds [from Proposition 50] will allow
for new water supply options,” said David
Cordero, of the Municipal Water District
of Orange County.
Among these new supply options is ocean
water desalinization, Cordero said.
Proposition 50 would also provide money
to help protect California’s water supply
by providing added security around reservoirs
to protect against terrorist attacks and
intentional contamination.
In addition, the bill would help provide
local water districts with funds to remove
cancer-causing chemicals, such as MTBE,
chromium and arsenic, from local water supplies.
The bill would also help California comply
with the federal mandate to cut back on
Colorado River water use, which is one of
California’s primary sources of water.
In previous years, California has relied
on the unused allocations of Colorado River
water from other states like Arizona and
Nevada. Due to population growth, those
states are now reclaiming their rights to
that water.
Proposition 50 would help fund regional
programs to more efficiently manage existing
water supplies and canals.
An additional $825 million will be allocated,
if the bill passes, for the CALFED bay-delta
program to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin
delta, which provides about two-thirds of
California’s drinking water.
Opponents of Proposition 50 say that the
bill will cost the taxpayers too much money
and that it is primarily sponsored by special
interest environmental groups.
Some argue that a more efficient use of
water in California would be to build more
storage facilities, dams and reservoirs.
“You can collect all the water you want,
but you have to have a place to store it,”
said Ted Costa, of the People’s Advocate,
a private government watchdog organization.
Opponents also say that too much water is
wasted from the Sacramento River flowing
into the delta and out into the ocean, and
that a diversion around the delta would
be a good way to make use of that water.
Costa said that Proposition 50 prohibits
any funds to build new dams and reservoirs.
The environmental groups that sponsored
the bill feel that if they can slow the
process of building more reservoirs, they
can slow the population growth in California,
Costa said.
“People just keep on coming,” Costa said.
“We either have to say ‘stop coming’ or
we have to build more water storage facilities.”
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