Future of the Delta: Who Are the Stakeholders Schwarzenegger and Feinstein Met With Behind Closed Doors?

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Holding off for now on Chamber of Commerce water bond with new dams and construction of a peripheral canal?

By Dan Bacher

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein met with legislators and "stakeholders" on Thursday in the hope of finding a legislative solution to California's water problems, according to Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director of Restore the Delta, in her "Delta Flows" e-newsletter.

The good news is that the Governor and Feinstein, at least for the time being, are apparently not going to support the Chamber of Commerce water bond that would build new dams and support the construction of a peripheral canal. The massive opposition of a broad-based coalition of fishermen, environmentalists, California Indian tribes and Delta residents to an earlier water bond supported by Schwarzenegger has undoubtedly had a big impact.

The bad news is that the meeting was held behind closed doors without public scrutiny. I have a real problem with closed door meetings like this because the people most impacted by the legislator's decision are invariably left out of the process. To me, transparency is the number one requirement of democratic process.

Schwarzenegger yesterday issued the following vague and surprisingly short statement "after he hosted a meeting with Senator Feinstein, legislative leaders and key stakeholders to discuss rebuilding California's water infrastructure," according to the Governor's office.

"I would like to thank Senator Feinstein and all of the participants of today's meeting where we discussed the critical water issues facing California. Despite our current budget emergency, we still must address the severe water shortages that we are facing with court-ordered reductions in deliveries to Southern California, the Bay Area and the Central Valley. It is critical that we stay focused on rebuilding our water infrastructure - the economy, the environment, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland and 25 million Californians depend on us finding a solution. The longer we wait the worse and more complicated the problem will get. I encourage our state leaders to keep up their momentum and work toward a consensus on a proposal to put before voters as soon as possible."

My big question is who were the "key stakeholders" invited to this closed door meeting? Were any recreational anglers, commercial fishermen or California Indian tribal leaders, the people most impacted by the proposed peripheral canal, more dams and increased water exports, invited? I suspect that they weren't, but why doesn't the Governor's office list the "stakeholders" who were represented there?