A California Republican

There is some slow progress on the water situation in California.

Water is essential to life. Water is essential to growth, industry and commerce. Water needs to be able to be stored, transported and used in the same way that goods are stored, transported and used. So California needs some more water storage, water treatment and water movement infrastructure. If only there was a way to pay for it that didn’t involve more bond debt.

There is - it is call “pay as you go.” Instead of selling bonds to finance the project, if water is a priority, it should be paid for as you go. There is no need to pay the $9.99 billion up front. Instead, spread it out over the 20 years (or so) that it will take to create this water “solution”(it is a “solution” because by the time it is built, there will be another water crisis).

Alternatively, regulate land use. Instead of allowing people to build big cities in the middle of the desert, and then look to others to provide water for them, why not require new development, and redevelopment of old developments, to be self-sufficient for water purposes? Sure, it may mean that L.A. cannot build more huge subdivisions in the desert surrounding the city, but that is not a bad thing. Water is scarce in a desert, so maybe people shouldn’t be living there.  Just like agriculture shouldn’t be a big business in the desert.

But instead of considering these options, the Legislature is going forward with a HUGE bond package that adds an unsustainable amount of debt to the budget. When facing choices in the coming years between education, children’s health and services to the elderly, it would be wise for legislators to remember that if they hadn’t approved such huge bonds, there would be more money available for services.

As a side note, the Legislature says that water is a priority. But instead of solving the Delta issue, they are passing it off to a commission that doesn’t have to have a solution until 2012. That doesn’t signal “priority” to anyone.

It is clear that this Legislature likes to pass the buck to future generations. Using bonds for anything passes the buck because the interest, payments and debt on the bond will not be due under these lawmakers’ terms. Instead, future lawmakers are going to have to deal with the debt crisis the state faces.