Skin in the Game: A Lesson for Planning the Future of the Delta

A recent op-ed written by Delta Senator Lois Wolk points out an obvious truth, but one that she thinks has been forgotten in the Delta: When you are planning the future of a community, you have to involve the community. 

Senator Wolk asserts out that some water interests have been less than eager to involve the Delta's farmers, fishermen, teachers, business leaders and local officials in some current planning efforts. 

Instead, the Department of Water Resources, the Bureau of Reclamation and a small group of water agencies south of the Delta have long dominated Delta discussions. Those agencies depend enormously on water from the Delta and must play an important part in discussions about its future.  However, Senator Wolk suggests that these interests need to make room at the Delta table for the residents who live in and own most of the Delta.   

For instance, the DWR and other agencies involved in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process are contemplating large-scale habitat restoration in the Delta and the construction of an enormous Peripheral Canal in the Delta.  An ambitious restoration program is certainly necessary to restore the Delta's health, and the uncertain future of the Delta suggests that a thoughtful new approach to conveyance in the Delta is required.  But any process planning the future of the Delta would be wise to provide a significant role for those in the Delta.

The reality is that local governments in California have a great deal of power when it comes to developing major new projects in their backyards--including the power to bring them to a grinding halt. Residents of the Delta realize this, and they want their voices to be heard.

The simple fact is that water planning efforts will only succeed if the Delta community is involved. Large-scale changes will require cooperation from a long list of local interests - levee reclamation districts, land owners, the Port of Stockton, county and city governments and many others. Without their assistance, an ambitious program could take years, perhaps decades, longer to complete.

I was speaking recently with an elected official about this situation.  I asked him, "What would happen if Caltrans came to your city and said, 'We're planning to build a major freeway through your community, but you're not welcome to join our planning process.' How long would it take for such a project to be built?"  He replied, "It would never be built. Local governments are too strong to be rolled by state agencies." 

Words to the wise. 

It's certainly true that involving the many interests in the Delta will take effort.  It may take more time in the short term.  However, in the long term, it will help ensure that California develops a better plan for the Delta - and that the plan can actually be implemented.

As Winston Churchill once said, "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried."