A thirsty state

There are two stories today about water in California. One is in the Stockton Record about the state's expensive thirst/ California needs more water. But there are far cheaper ways to get it than building new reservoirs and dams - the hot topic surrounding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $35billion waterworks plan, which could send millions of flood-control dollars to San Joaquin County and the Delta. State Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said Tuesday that California will need at least 2million more acre-feet of water each year by 2030; that's enough to support about 8million people. The other is in the Oakland Tribune is about a new "peripheral canal" around the Bay Area Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger began campaigning Tuesday for water-related aspects of his $222 billion public works proposal that could resurrect a decades-old battle over a canal skirting the Bay Area Delta — a plan voters overwhelmingly rejected amid fears it would drain Northern California to quench the thirst of the south state. The governor's Strategic Growth Plan plan does not specifically propose a new Peripheral Canal, but administration officials said that as part of the effort, they are eyeing the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and a combination of remedies that include a smaller canal to divert river water around the east side of the region.