In This Issue:

• WATER WATER WATER

• WATER WATER WATER PART DEUX

• WATER POLITICS RIPPLE THROUGH CAPITOL

• NEW BROAD BASED WATER COALITION

• ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE MEETS IN OC TO DISCUSS WATER

• GREENHOUSE GAS CEQA GUIDELINES UNDERWAY

• NORCAL CITY MANAGERS LUNCHEON

• CBPA 2009-2010 CALENDAR

WATER WATER WATER

As any of you who read this newsletter regularly know, we have been in the fray to fix the state’s severe water crisis for several years. Unfortunately, after endless meetings, plans, and disagreements, nothing has actually happened and tensions are heightened as we are now in a multi-year drought. Like with the state budget situation, consensus is difficult to reach and almost every stakeholder has the ability to stymie progress. The general fear is that this legislative inertia to get something accomplished – especially increasing storage and improving conveyance systems – will only be overcome when we are at a complete system meltdown. We hope the newly signed budget holds up long enough for real negotiations and progress to take place on this extremely important issue.

Experts at the University of California report that water shortages have cost California more than 30,000 jobs in this year alone. And that only counts the impact on businesses and working families in the Central Valley. The costs statewide will be much greater. No community or business sector will be safe unless we restore reliability to our water supply.

This year alone, it is estimated that California businesses will lose hundreds of millions of dollars due to water issues. To make matters worse, a dysfunctional regulatory system is wasting billions of gallons of drinking water that are needed for 25 million of the state’s residents.

WATER WATER WATER PART DEUX

California’s water system is in great need of improvements. Our population is expected to grow by more than 600,000 people each year, mushrooming the population to as many as 48 million by 2020; DWR projections show that this growth could increase annual water demands by 6 million acre feet by 2030; and recent studies predict that 25% of the snowpack, which is our largest water storage system, will be lost by 2050.

To accommodate for growth as well as these anticipated hydrological changes, California must be prepared to manage our water in a comprehensive, efficient manner. There are many impediments to doing so, including a tangible shortage of facilities, the lack of effective conveyance, and problems with the Delta.

The shortfall is evident, the disaster is imminent; we must act now.
 

WATER POLITICS RIPPLE THROUGH CAPITOL

Capitol Weekly sums up where we are: “After months of budget wrangling, lawmakers are preparing to make water policy a central focus of the final month of this year’s legislative session. How does the state get more water from the north to the south while protecting the delta east of San Francisco, the vast, fragile estuary through which most of California’s water flows? Can it do both? Can lawmakers satisfy farmers, environmentalists and water districts? Apparently, they’re going to try. In the background looms the possibility of a 2010 bond package or a system of fees to help finance the projects.” Click here to read more.

NEW BROAD BASED WATER COALITION

On behalf of the commercial, industrial, and retail real estate industry, CBPA has joined a new broad-based water coalition dubbed “Alliance for a 21st Century Water System .” With a diverse membership ranging from agricultural groups to conservationists to business groups, we hope to demonstrate to the legislature that this is not just a Central Valley agribusiness problem. The group is fighting for a clean, affordable, and reliable water supply system to serve our state.

There are viable solutions to this crisis that have been identified and endorsed by the Governor’s Delta Vision Commission. The need now is for California’s business and community leaders to get involved and send a message to Sacramento that piecemeal approaches won’t work. California needs a comprehensive solution to the water crisis. Below are the tenets of the coalition:

WATER SOLUTION 1. REPAIR THE DELTA

Restoring the environmental health of the Sacramento San Joaquin Delta must be the starting point. Invasive species, declining water quality, industrial pollution, toxic discharges upstream and in the Delta, and a host of other problems have caused fisheries to collapse. Climate change, rising sea and salinity levels, deteriorating levees, and the threat of a cataclysmic earthquake threaten to disrupt water supplies for two-thirds of the state’s residents. Protecting Delta water quality, enhancing habitat and fisheries, and preserving the values of the Delta as an evolving place are all essential elements of a comprehensive solution to the water crisis.

WATER SOLUTION 2. PERIPHERAL CANAL - CONVEYANCE

Moving the intake points for the state and federal water systems from their present location in the southern Delta to a location on the Sacramento River will benefit Delta fisheries and safeguard water quality for 25 million people. Delta Vision, the independent Public Policy Institute of California and experts at the University of California all agree that moving the intakes and building a peripheral canal instead offers the best and most economical choice for meeting the needs of the environment and the public. And the costs of building the canal will be paid by the people who use it – not the taxpayers.

WATER SOLUTION 3. NEW STORAGE

Without adequate storage facilities, California every year loses billions of gallons of fresh water that could be used to supply cities and farms. In addition, climate change is profoundly altering the operation of existing dams and driving the need for new ones. With decreasing snowmelt, new infrastructure will be needed to manage water resources for both fish and people.

WATER SOLUTION 4. INTEGRATION OF THE TWO WATER SYSTEMS

California’s State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project form the backbone of the modern water system that drives $30 billion of the state’s economy. Integrating the operation of the two systems under state authority would increase the efficiency of water deliveries, reduce costs for water users and improve maintenance.

WATER SOLUTION 5. AFFORDABLE WATER SUPPLY

In addition to making water supplies more reliable, we also need to ensure that they will be affordable. Water users – not the taxpayers - are willing to pay the costs for new conveyance facilities, for necessary environmental mitigation in the Delta, and for those aspects of additional storage that provide water ratepayers with a direct benefit in the form of assurances of adequate and reliable water supplies. But that’s all they should pay for. The Legislature must resist efforts by special interests who want to impose ongoing water taxes in the form of fees on water supplies in order to pay for regional economic development, all-purpose governmental slush funds and environmental activities that have no direct benefit to water ratepayers. Forcing water users to pay a water tax for programs that do not directly benefit them will only drive up the costs of water for everyone, impede economic growth, disproportionately impact vulnerable communities and reduce the flexibility needed to meet the multiple needs for water for both economic and environmental purposes.
 

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE MEETS IN OC TO DISCUSS WATER

The Assembly Select Committee on Regional Approaches to Addressing the State's Water Crisis, is holding its first committee in Orange County. You are encouraged to attend:

HEARING:
Friday, August 21, 2009
9:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. (including lunch)

LOCATION:
OCWD / MWDOC Board Room
18700 Ward Street
Fountain Valley, California 92708

Panelists will include:
• Darcy Burke, Director of Public Affairs, Municipal Water District of Orange County
• Lucy Dunn, President, Orange County Business Council
• Paul Jones, General Manager, Irvine Ranch Water District
• Jeff Kightlinger, CEO, Metropolitan Water District
• Scott Maloni, Vice President, Poseidon Resources
• Michael Markus, General Manager, Orange County Water District
• Michael Motherway, President, DXV Water Technologies
• Steve Sheldon, President, Orange County Water District
• Robert Wade, Director of Legislation, California Landscape Contractors Association
 

GREENHOUSE GAS CEQA GUIDELINES UNDERWAY

The Natural Resources Agency received recommended amendments to the CEQA Guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions from the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Public hearings on the proposed guideline amendments are scheduled for August 18, 2009 in Sacramento and on August 20, 2009 in Los Angeles. Written comments will be accepted until 5:00pm on August 20, 2009. Click here for more information on how to participate.
 

NORCAL CITY MANAGERS LUNCHEON

On Thursday, October 29, NAIOP is co-sponsoring the City Managers Luncheon with Lambda Alpha International at the Dante Club in Sacramento. Eight City Managers are currently scheduled to appear and more are expected. This event will be moderated by our own Rex Hime. Sponsorship opportunities are available. See this flyer for information.

CBPA 2009-2010 CALENDAR

November 5-6, 2009
CBPA Board Meeting &
Strategic Issues Conference
Meritage Resort, Napa

February 18, 2010
CBPA Board Meeting
Sacramento

June 22-23, 2010
Annual CBPA Board Meeting &
CA Commercial Real Estate Summit
Sacramento

October 21, 2010
CBPA Board Meeting
&
CBPA Industry Awards Dinner
The Fairmont, Newport Beach