Is Gov Schwarzenegger helping big business steal more water like he did with Electricity?

[annm4peace]

"The audit comes as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and a coalition of corporate agribusiness interests, southern California water agencies and some environmental N.G.O.s are campaigning for a $11.1 billion water bond that would create the infrastructure for an environmentally destructive peripheral canal and new dams. "


http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/05/05/18647101.php

alifornia lawmakers request audit of water bond expenditures

by Dan Bacher

California legislators are seeking stronger oversight and accountability in the state's management of billions of dollars in water bond funds.

The Joint Legislative Audit Committee on May 5 unanimously approved an audit requested to determine whether the Department of Water Resources (DWR) has "demonstrated an ability to manage the significant amount of bond funds entrusted to it by California’s voters," according to a news release from Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis).

"Senator Wolk and Assemblymembers Alyson Huber (D-El Dorado Hills) and Joan Buchanan (D-Alamo) made the request late last month, acting on a recent report from the state’s bipartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) that raised concerns about whether the department is spending bond funds as the legislature and voters intended," the release stated.

The audit comes as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and a coalition of corporate agribusiness interests, southern California water agencies and some environmental N.G.O.s are campaigning for a $11.1 billion water bond that would create the infrastructure for an environmentally destructive peripheral canal and new dams.

“The LAO’s report highlights the necessity for stronger oversight and accountability of general obligation bond funds within the Department of Water Resources,” said Wolk. “We need to ensure that the Department of Water Resources has the tools and capacity to efficiently and effectively manage bond funds in a manner that is consistent with voter and legislative intent.”

The LAO report points to a Bureau of State Audits review of DWR’s administration of Proposition 1E Flood Protection Corridor Program. The 2007 audit found several problems with the administration of the program, such as poor monitoring of grants, and overpayment for land acquisition.

“Since 1996, California’s voters have approved seven resources bonds totaling nearly $21 billion," Huber said at the hearing. "This significant investment in our natural resources requires appropriate oversight to ensure that bond dollars are being managed and spent as the voters intended. The audit is intended to provide the Legislature and the Department with the tools to ensure appropriate and effective distribution of general obligation bonds.”

Wednesday's vote approved a review by the State Auditor of DWR’s management of bond funds within the last five years.

The State Auditor will make several assessments, including:

• the amount in bond funds received and spent by the department, as well as how much funding remains unallocated

• whether the department has an effective system for tracking and managing bond funds; and

• whether there is adequate oversight for the department’s bond expenditures.

The audit will begin in the next few months, and a report should be issued later this year.

Everybody who cares about accountability and oversight in government should applaud Senator Lois Wolk and Assemblymembers Alyson Huber and Joan Buchanan for making the request for the audit to determine whether or not the DWR has demonstrated the ability to manage water bond money.

DWR certainly has demonstrated its inability to manage California water - at great expense to imperiled fish species. Under the "green" leadership of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, DWR has helped to engineer the collapse of Sacramento River Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, green sturgeon, striped bass and other fish species by exporting record amounts of water from the California Delta to corporate agribusiness and southern California.

Record water export levels occurred in 2003 (6.3 million acre-feet or MAF), 2004 (6.1 MAF), 2005 (6.5 MAF) and 2006 (6.3 MAF). Exports averaged 4.6 MAF annually between 1990 and 1999 and increased to an average of 6 MAF between 2000 and 2007, a rise of almost 30 percent, according to the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.

For more information and action alerts, go to: http://www.restorethedelta.org.