From Los Angeles Times
                                                    October 18, 2009
                                                       George Skelton

Negotiators are on the brink of achieving the most comprehensive California water legislation in half a century.   Both sides -- whether talking about Democrats vs. Republicans, environmentalists vs. farmers, cities vs. burgs -- have attained their top priorities, realizing gains that seemed almost impossible just 18 months ago.

GOP lawmakers and San Joaquin Valley growers have secured a pathway leading to probable construction of a long-controversial canal to carry fresh Sacramento River water around the fragile, brackish delta and directly into an aqueduct heading south. Also, a new state water planning process would likely result in an additional dam or two.

Democrats and environmentalists long have fought against both the so-called peripheral canal and what's euphemistically referred to as "above-ground storage," fearing they'd lead to increased water exports from north to south; more for irrigation and swimming pools, less for fish and wildlife.

But the trade-off for acquiescing to the canal and dams is an ecologically restored delta, a once-fertile estuary that's now in danger of becoming a dead sea for salmon and other fish. The Dems and enviros also would gain significantly improved statewide water conservation.

The politicians and "stakeholders" have been meeting for months and narrowed their differences to relatively small details. Issues within issues.  But the biggies basically are settled: the canal, dams, delta restoration, a new governing structure for the estuary and the conservation concept.

What's needed now are some handshakes and legislative votes.  The solution is simple: All sides should declare the victory they've won.
 
This article can be read at:

www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap22-2009oct22,0,3783893,print.column