Southern California Water Committee Endorses 2010 Water Bond

January 25, 2010 

Rancho Cucamonga — The Southern California Water Committee (SCWC) unanimously voted to support the Safe, Clean & Reliable Water Supply Act of 2010 ‐‐ a $11.1 billion water bond slated to appear on the November 2010 statewide ballot, at its January 22 Board of Trustees meeting, joining a growing coalition of statewide business, water, agricultural, and environmental organizations focused on solving California’s water crisis.

The SCWC, a non‐profit and nonpartisan organization, is dedicated to securing adequate, reliable, affordable, and high quality water supplies for Southern California. Spanning Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, Ventura and Kern Counties, the SCWC’s members include representatives from water agencies, business, government, agriculture, labor and the general public.

• California’s aging water system is struggling beneath extraordinary pressure. Originally built to serve 16 million people, it is operating well beyond its capacity to serve more than 38 million Californians today, and the state’s population is expected to reach 50 million people by 2032.
• Water supplies are severely limited because the state is entering its fourth possible year of drought.
• Regulatory restrictions have required massive reductions in California’s water supply — up to nearly one‐third — from the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley Project, the state’s two largest water delivery systems, to protect certain fish species in the Delta. Public water agencies are bracing for severe limits on supplies in 2010, receiving the lowest initial allocation of water from the SWP since 1967.
• The Sacramento‐San Joaquin River Delta, our primary water delivery hub is on the brink of ecological and physical collapse.
• Water sources continue to be threatened by contaminants.
• Scarce supplies have forced cities throughout the state to impose mandatory rationing on residents’ and businesses’ water use.
• Farmers are fallowing their fields in communities where unemployment reaches nearly 40 percent.

The Safe, Clean & Reliable Water Supply Act of 2010, which accompanied an unprecedented package of policy legislation, would fund projects and programs to reduce the impact of the state’s drought; increase the reliability of water supplies; sustain and restore the San Joaquin‐Sacramento Delta; improve the operation of the state’s water system; increase conservation and water recycling; increase watershed protections, protect groundwater and improve water quality.

“It is essential that all Californians recognize the importance of making long‐term investments now in our water system and critical natural resources,” said Charles Wilson, Chairman of the SCWC. “With the need to fix our aging water system becoming increasingly dire, the bond provides a solution to our escalating needs.”

The SCWC joins a growing list of statewide and regional organizations from Northern and Southern California that endorse the 2010 Water Bond, including the California Alliance for Jobs, Western Growers Association, California Chamber of Commerce, the Nature Conservancy, Orange County Business Council, Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Valley Industry and Commerce Association, Western Municipal Water District, and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

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