Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the land of sea otters and tidepools Wednesday to push a $5.4 billion initiative touted by supporters as a solution to the state's water dilemmas.
With the Monterey Bay as his backdrop, the governor told reporters outside the Monterey Bay Aquarium: "We still have a long way to go to protect and clean our environment."
Schwarzenegger spoke in favor of Proposition 84 on next month's ballot, which supporters say will provide money to state and local agencies to tackle a variety of problems, including unsafe drinking water, ocean pollution and inadequate flood protection.
The measure is also a piece of Schwarzenegger's greater thrust over the past year to improve California's infrastructure, which he said has not kept up with the state's growing population. As an example, he described the state's levees as being "one big storm or one earthquake away from a major disaster."
Along with Proposition 84, the governor encouraged voters during his hourlong stop to support Propositions 1A through 1E, which deal with transportation, housing and school infrastructure improvements.
California residents, he said, need to recognize that "to not get stuck in traffic, to not have crowded classrooms, to have safer drinking water," the state must fund the basics.
Proposition 84 would authorize the sale of $5.4 billion in bonds. Over 30 years, it will cost $10.5 billion to repay those bonds, according to the state legislative analyst's office.
Propositions 1A-1E would authorize the sale of a total of $37 billion in bonds.
State legislators attempted to pass bills earlier this year that would have funded many of the same projects, but those efforts failed.
Critics of the propositions have argued that if the state is unable to make the bond payments, residents would have to be taxed. A call to the California Taxpayer Protection Committee, a Proposition 84 opponent, was not returned Wednesday.
Supporters of the infrastructure bonds counter that the state would be spending less than 6 percent of the state's general fund to pay off the bonds.
Schwarzenegger stumped along the Monterey Bay -- and the accompanying odor of seaweed -- with aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard, president of the Association of California Water Agencies Randy Fiorini, and Pacific Region director of The Ocean Conservancy Tim Eichenberg.
During the aquarium's 22 years, Packard told the small group of reporters and campaigners, the ocean's ecosystems have been changed by water pollution, diseased wildlife and a decrease in the numbers of fish being caught.
"Beneath the ocean, there are truly problems going on," she said. "I would hate to see a day when the only healthy California kelp forest you could see is here in the Monterey Bay Aquarium."
Proposition 84, Packard said, will help protect the health of the ocean and coastal areas, in turn protecting wildlife, beach-goers and tourism and fishing economies tied to the ocean.
Fiorini, whose group helped write the initiative, said the money will help protect groundwater from contamination and surface water from pollution, an area of focus that has garnered local attention lately with the recent spinach scare involving E. coli.
If Proposition 84 passes, the benefits for local residents will include reliable drinking water, upgrades of waste-water treatment facilities, wetland restoration, beach cleanups, storm water pollution prevention, flood protection, and coastal and wildlife safeguards, said Fiorini, Eichenberg and others.
Smaller, rural communities like Chualar and King City could be eligible for grants to improve the quality of their drinking water, said Michael Mantell, chairman of the Proposition 84 campaign.
Nick Papadakis, executive director of the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, one of the local organizations supporting the proposition, said he sees a lot of potential benefits locally if the proposition passes.
Papadakis said money could be used for flood control of the Pajaro River and for funding regional water projects.
Funds for many of the concerns addressed by Proposition 84 were supposed to be available when Proposition 50 was passed in 2002. But much of that funding never came through for local water-related programs, he said.
"Every time you have a statewide program, money is never enough," Papadakis said. "We view this as a great addition to the funding. We won't know how much until all the process has taken place, but our chances of getting more money will improve substantially."
I dunno what to say. At least some of this stuff actually makes sense, as opposed to some of the environ-MENTAL crap that Americans put up with on a day-to-day basis.
"Environmental" is a dirty word.
| Proposition 84 - Uses of Bond Funds | Amount |
| . | (In Millions) |
| Water Quality | 1,525 |
| Integrated regional water management. | 1,000 |
| Safe drinking water. | 380 |
| Delta and agriculture water quality. | 145 |
| Protection of Rivers, Lakes, and Streams | 928 |
| Regional conservancies. | 279 |
| Other projects—public access, river parkways, urban stream restoration, California Conservation Corps. | 189 |
| Delta and coastal fisheries restoration. | 180 |
| Restoration of the San Joaquin River. | 100 |
| Restoration projects related to the Colorado River. | 90 |
| Stormwater polution prevention. | 90 |
| Flood Control | 800 |
| State flood control projects—evaluation, system improvements, flood corridor program. | 315 |
| Flood control projects in the Delta. | 275 |
| Local flood control subventions (outside the Central Valley flood control system). | 180 |
| Floodplain mapping and assistance for local land use planning. | 30 |
| Sustainable Communities and Climate Change Reduction | 580 |
| Local and regional parks. | 400 |
| Urban water and energy conservation projects. | 90 |
| Incentives for conservation in local planning. | 90 |
| Protection of Beaches, Bays, and Coastal Waters | 540 |
| Protection of various coastal areas and watersheds. | 360 |
| Clean Beaches Program. | 90 |
| California Ocean Protection Trust Fund—marine resources, substainable fisheries, and marine wildlife conservation. | 90 |
| Parks and Natural Education Facilities | 500 |
| State park system—acquisition, development, and restoration. | 400 |
| Nature education and research facilities. | 100 |
| Forest and Wildlife Conservation | 450 |
| Wildlife habitat protection. | 225 |
| Forest conservation. | 180 |
| Protection of ranches, farms, and oak woodlands. | 45 |
| Statewide Water Planning | 65 |
| Planning for furture water needs, water conveyance systems, and flood control projects. | 65 |
| Total | 5,388 |
Of all the bonds we might at least benefit from somewhat, this is the one in worst shape per the PPIC poll.
This Big Bang approach didn't work before and likely won't work again..
Ya gotta love these mad politicos,, they just don't learn..
We have a legislature that can't get the job done and a bunch of "leaders' who just don't get it, no matter how many times they claim we must live within our means, they spend all their revenue like durnken sailors and then run to the bond agencies to bail their them out from there own deficiencies in getting things done the old fashioned way, Pay as you go..
"He's no good... He's no good... baby, baby, he's no good... Lemme say it again... He's no good... He's no good... He's no good..."