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Bond Measure Would Funnel $5M to Projects

Bond Measure Would Funnel $5M to Projects

Water: Goal is to Redirect Region’s Thirst For Colorado River

BY LEE ZION

San Diego could benefit from a potential $5 billion bond to wean Southern California off water from the Colorado River.

AB 750 was heard May 6 in the Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. The bill, carried by Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, would authorize bond measure to fund water projects throughout the state, including $130 million earmarked for San Diego County.

Dennis Cushman, assistant general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority, said the bond would help the state reduce its reliance on water from the Colorado River. The state is under pressure from the federal government to reduce its reliance on the river, under a complex deal known as the Quantification Settlement Agreement.

However, the Colorado is the source of most of San Diego’s water , about two-thirds of its supply. The proposed bond measure will help finance several local projects aimed at diversifying San Diego’s water supply, Cushman said.

Projects currently on the table include a $230 million desalination plant in Carlsbad which, when built, can produce enough fresh water to meet the water needs of 400,000 people. Other additions to the portfolio include increased conservation efforts and water recycling, he said.

“(This) will shore up our water reliability to support San Diego’s $126 billion regional economy,” Cushman said. “We have manufacturing, biotechnology, high technology, a military infrastructure, and a tourism industry that ranks among the biggest in the country. All of that depends on having a very reliable water supply.”

Machado said San Diego would benefit directly. Unlike other bond measures, where various water agencies have to compete for a centrally controlled pot, much of the proposed $5 billion bond would be broken down by region.

Southern California would get about $1 billion to restore the Salton Sea, while also providing about 500,000 acre-feet of water for coastal cities. Of that amount, $130 million is earmarked for San Diego, he said.

Other money would go toward projects in the Central Valley and Northern California, such as restoring the Bay Delta, Machado said

The proposed bond measure follows two earlier water bond measures, Proposition 13 and Proposition 50, which together cost about $5.5 billion, he said. Conceding that voters may be reluctant to support another bond measure, Machado said the latest proposal could be smaller than the initial figure of $5 billion, he said.

The bond measure is crucial for all of California, he added.

“When you take a look at the problem we have statewide with trying to meet water supplies for the existing economy and the growth expected no longer can we look at water as a Northern California problem, or a Southern California problem. I think they’re both equally important.”

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