System should center on sustainability in 21st century

By WES SANDER
Capital Press

SACRAMENTO -- California possesses the traits it needs to enter a new era of water management, water experts say. The state only needs to conquer its misperceptions.

Water managers, academics and researchers who gathered at a forum here on Tuesday, Dec. 8, agreed that the state can make great progress under existing laws if it casts off old mind-sets.

The event, staged by the Public Policy Institute of California, coincided with the release of a PPIC report, "California Water Myths." The authors lay out common beliefs that they say have slowed progress.

"Having these myths be so prevalent in our discussions has really hindered California water policy," said Jay Lund, a professor at the University of California-Davis.

The report is "an affirmation that we have to go to a comprehensive solution set," said Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

Quinn described a "massive transition" from a resource-management system that was based on extraction in the 20th century, but will center on sustainability in the 21st.

The process will involve "much more integrated decision-making than we've been used to in the past," Quinn said.

Among the myths are the notions that the state's water is running out, that either infrastructure or conservation alone is the cure, and that aquatic ecosystems and economic health will always conflict.

There's also the belief that the state's complex system of water rights is incompatible with such a transition.

Federal district Judge Ronald Robie, who specializes in water law, said the state must learn to use the flexibility its decentralized management system offers. It's a trait that sets California apart from other states, he said, but it hasn't been used constructively.

"California is a radical state compared to the water-law regimes in other states," he said.

It can be difficult to change beliefs because they're often ingrained in people's identities, said Celeste Cantu, general manager of the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority.

"California does have the ability to make this (transition) happen," Cantu said. "All of us need to check our identities, check our assumptions at the door."