Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

SD County Water Authority Likes Bond Proposal

A San Diego County water agency is in favor of a proposal to fix the states water supply problems. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

SD County Water Authority Likes Bond Proposal

A San Diego County water agency is in favor of a proposal to fix the states water supply problems. KPBS reporter Ed Joyce has more.

Saying that California faces an “unprecedented water crisis,” Governor Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein proposed a $9.3 billion water bond for the November ballot.

Advertisement

The bond proposal includes money for new water storage and other updates to the state’s water system.

Fern Steiner is board chair of the San Diego County Water Authority.

Steiner : We do intend to work with the governor and the legislators over the next few weeks to work on this bond and see if we can move forward on increasing our water supply reliability.

Democratic lawmakers and the Republican governor have disagreed on how to structure a water bond for two years.

The sticking point has been environmental concerns related to Schwarzenegger's desire for new dams in California.

Advertisement

The state is in the midst of two years of drought and the driest spring in recorded history.

With the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem near collapse, court-ordered restrictions on water deliveries from the Delta have reduced supplies from the state’s two largest water systems by 20 to 30 percent.

Drought conditions in the Colorado River Basin and a reduced Sierra snowpack has also hurt supply.

The governor says if the drought continues into next year, the results could be catastrophic to the state’s economy.

Ed Joyce, KPBS News.