The landmark water bill authored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, and set for a gubernatorial signature today has no fan in fellow Peninsula legislator Leland Yee — the state senator argues the legislation will simply divert water to Southern California desert towns to build more golf courses and fill more pools.

While Senate Bill 7X 1, a bill to redefine the role of the Delta Protection Commission, passed the Senate with bipartisan support last week by a 27-7 vote, Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, and the Sierra Club are adamantly opposed to reforming the policy and governance of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Regardless, Simitian’s bill is one of five water-related bills Schwarzenegger intends to sign. Monday, the governor also signed a $12 billion water bond intended to rebuild the state’s crumbling water system and fund new dams to conserve water. Voters will decide the fate of the water bond next November.

The bill lays out a path for governance of the Delta and establishes the goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring and enhancing the Delta ecosystem, according to Simitian.

But Yee disagrees.

The legislation does not mandate Southern California to conserve water, Yee said, adding that the legislation encourages unbridled growth in Southern California.

Simitian’s bill has been in the works for four years now and has been through seven legislative sessions. It got broad support from legislators, including those in the Central Valley eager to save the state’s agricultural industry.

“This water package is a bad deal for San Francisco and the Bay-Delta ecosystem,” said Yee, who voted against the water bills. “Not only does it ignore San Francisco’s conservation efforts, it threatens our long-standing water rights. While San Francisco should contribute to the solution, a water deal should not be at such a high expense for our city’s residents or jeopardize our state’s environment.”

San Francisco has exclusive water rights to Hetch Hetchy, in place for decades, and residents in San Mateo County benefit from those rights.

The Delta Stewardship Council, established by Simitian’s legislation, will have the authority and responsibility to tackle “conveyance” — moving water through, around or under the Delta. 

The legislation requires that before decisions about how to move water through the Delta are made, a determination is made about the amount of water required in the Delta to maintain a healthy ecosystem.

The Sierra Club, however, has a problem with how the Delta Stewardship Council will be appointed.

The DSC will have seven members, four appointed by Schwarzenegger, two appointed by the Legislature and one member from the already in place Delta Protection Commission.

“This panel will influence water policy for four to six years. Appointees are not required to have any expertise and there are no geographic determinations,” said Jim Metropulos, Sierra Club California’s senior advocate.

“It’s sad in this day and age that we have to continue to discuss whether expensive, cumbersome dams and canals are the right solution for California’s water troubles. We don’t need 19th century solutions to today’s problems,” Metropulos said.

The Sierra Club contends the water package, linked with the bond, will provide $3 billion to build environmentally harmful dams and creates debt service of $800 million a year for 30 years.

The Delta Stewardship Council will add an additional layer of bureaucracy that lacks the authority to direct actions in the Delta and the funding to pay for needed actions, Metropulos said.

While Simitian does not have the support of the Sierra Club, his legislation is supported by several other environmental groups including the California League of Conservation Voters, The Nature Conservancy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the National Audubon Society, the Bay Institute and the Defenders of Wildlife.

But several San Francisco leaders publicly opposed the water bills including Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, supervisors David Campos, Eric Mar, John Avalos, Chris Daly and Ross Mirkarimi.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, however, supports Simitian’s legislation as does the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

The East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.2 million customers, also opposes Simitian’s legislation.

Yee offered an amendment to Simitian’s bill to preserve Hetch Hetchy water rights but was rejected.

The two camps clearly see the issue differently, touting support from various environmental groups to support their stances. While Simitian’s bill had the support of the overwhelming majority of state Senators, several Bay Area senators opposed the legislation including Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, Lois Wolk, D-Davis and Loni Hancock, D-Oakland.

“While the water package showed progress had been made on an issue that has challenged California for more than a century, I couldn’t fully support it. The plan would put the Delta at risk,” according to DeSaulnier. “The plan doesn’t give the Delta and its 4 million residents a fair say in the process. It doesn’t adequately protect Northern California water users. Nor does the plan state how the Delta and its farms, economy, communities and environment would be protected.”

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.