Governor Schwarzenegger’s plans to build two new dams have been shot down in a Senate committee. But Republicans say they’ll keep trying. From Sacramento, Jenny O'Mara reports.
Democrats killed the plan to put a new bond before voters in 2008 -- a nearly $6 billion package that included funding for two new dams. Democratic State Senator Sheila Kuehl called it an inflexible plan.
Kuehl : It says: ‘Let’s build some more stuff out of concrete that stays in one place, costs a whole bunch of money, and is the one way we’re going to try to solve this problem.’
The bill's author, Republican Senator Dave Cogdill argues existing reservoirs have already saved the state from drought.
Cogdill : Not because we’ve conserved our way out of it, or because we’ve been effective enough in the use of groundwater or recycling -- or all the other things that are important that this bill supports -- but because we have water in the reservoirs.
In a statement, the governor called water planning a difficult process, but said above-ground storage will be a central part of California's future. Senator Cogdill says he'll continue the effort in the legislature but an initiative is possible.
Jenny O'Mara, KPBS News.
