Turlock Journal - Water package is more litigation, less irrigation

From the Turlock Journal -Water package is more litigation, less irrigation


Turlock Journal

Assemblyman Bill Berryhill, R-Ceres, represents the 26th Assembly District in the California Legislature, which includes the communities of Ceres, Denair, Escalon, Linden, Lockeford, Manteca, Modesto, Ripon, Stockton and Turlock.


Many environmentalists supported this package because they want to stunt the growth of the state by shutting off the water spigot. In doing so, they are content with thousands of Californians leaving this state a year, instead of promoting sensible water policy and economic growth.
Now, whether or not California voters decide to pass this water bond, we’re left with a state takeover of our water resources in the Delta, and little say in how it is managed. It essentially creates a Coastal Commission for the Delta.
Some are celebrating this package as a bipartisan compromise, but this deal simply highlights the dysfunction of this institution.
The Legislature declared there is a problem with the governance of the Delta, claiming there are too many agencies with overlapping jurisdiction, creating confusion and gridlock. But rather than streamlining these regulatory agencies, this Legislature “solved” the problem by creating an extra layer of bureaucracy to oversee the dozens of other bureaucracies.
After witnessing this year’s budget fiasco, somehow I don’t think the voters would agree that the problem with the State government is that it’s not big enough. But that is exactly the message Sacramento sent by approving this water package.