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SACRAMENTO — Close to a final agreement on an issue that has long flummoxed lawmakers, the California Legislature finally began taking up the most sweeping overhaul of the state's aging water system in a generation.
In a tense vote just after 10 p.m., the state Senate narrowly approved one of the more controversial pieces of the reform effort — a $9.9 billion bond bill. The measure would build new dams, repair levees and finance the wide-ranging package of reforms — but also saddle the strapped state with hundreds of millions more in debt payments each year.
Earlier, the Senate also approved a bill that would create a new governing structure for the fragile Delta, a source of drinking water for two-thirds of California and half of Silicon Valley.
But how the rest of the water reform effort remained unclear. As of late Monday night, the Assembly had not taken up any more bills and the Senate still had a handful of other bills on its plate.
Partisan politics and regional squabbles are still threatening to doom or delay an attempt at solving the state's ongoing crisis, despite broad approval of the effort's primary goals: shoring up the Delta and creating a reliable water supply for the drought-starved southern part of the state.
Opposition from senators who represent Delta districts almost kept the bond from reaching the necessary two-thirds approval. It passed with 28 of 40 senators voting yes — only one
For decades, governors and lawmakers have been unable to find compromise on a way to expand and divvy up the vital resource. Farmers, municipal water districts, environmentalists and sport fishermen often have competing agendas that pull lawmakers in different directions.
At the heart of the debate is the Delta. The largest estuary on the West Coast, it provides fresh water to two-thirds of California's residents and irrigates thousands of acres of cropland.
Its place at the center of the state's water-delivery system has placed the Delta's ecosystem in peril, with the massive pumps that draw water south being blamed in part for declining fish populations.
Under the Democratic bills, money would be set aside for new storage without dedicating funding for specific dams.
The Legislature's nonpartisan analyst's office said the bond's cost could force the state to spend 10 percent of its revenue each year to pay off debt. Placing the bond measure on a 2010 ballot requires a two-thirds vote in the Democratic-controlled Legislature and thus will need some support from Republicans, who are likely to withhold their votes until the legislation is shaped to their liking.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
