As if things weren't bad enough in California already. Now Governor Schwarzenegger is deciding to play despot in a new kind of "TERMINATOR" role: Terminating life for the natural inhabitants of northern California's waterways and coast. And the water profiteering is intended to be done at the expense of not only the environment, but democracy, too.
The California water wars are many decades long.
The southern California interests (Los Angeles and friends) has sought, demanded and schemed to induce northern California (San Francisco and environs north) to pump water to the South via a canal (at one time called the "Peripheral Canal").
This one-sided proposition (and environmentally unsound idea) has been fought off by the Northern Californians long and hard. But now it appears The Governator has figured out a way to bypass democratic resistence to bad ideas.
This time the proponents claim it is a "smaller" canal that will divert freshwater from rivers, delta, bays and coastal waters -- THIS TIME the canal would only be as wide as two football fields are long, diverting water from northern California at a volumn of 15,000 cubic feet PER SECOND. But, by Jove, those LA cars will be washed and sparkle! Who cares about the fish, birds and sealife!? Not Governor Schwarzenegger! He cares as much for living things as he cares for keeping democracy alive.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/...
Given the array of problems, Southern California water agencies and farmers in the Central Valley prefer to bypass the Delta by directly tapping the Sacramento River and sending 15,000 cubic feet per second into a canal. And the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which favors the plan, has determined that the state has the authority to build the canal without legislative or voter approval.