Zone 7 asked to endorse new $8.8 billion water bond measure

Zone 7 Water Agency directors heard a presentation on a proposed statewide water bond measure at last week’s regular meeting, with the measure’s proponent asking for their support for the new proposal — four years after California voters approved another multi-billion-dollar water bond.

If passed in November, Proposition 3 would issue $8.877 billion in general obligation bonds to generate revenue for water-related projects, including water infrastructure, groundwater supplies and storage, habitat protection and more.

The measure is sponsored by Californians for Safe Drinking Water and a Clean and Reliable Water Supply, and it has the support of a variety of conservancy and environmental justice organizations at this point — the over 460,000 valid signatures it garnered were enough to put the measure on the ballot. However, Gerald Meral, former deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources and the proposition’s developer, said he is seeking endorsements of local water agencies because they deal most directly with voters.

“The credibility of your agency, of water agencies throughout the state, with your consumers is very high … They trust you,” he said. “And so your endorsement to our campaign is really important, because of all the various endorsements we could have, local water agencies are really the best.”

No action was taken at the July 18 Zone 7 board meeting, with directors listening to and discussing Meral’s presentation on Prop 3, also known as the Water Supply and Water Quality Act of 2018.

If passed, the largest chunk of bond revenue from Prop 3 — $2.355 billion — would be directed to conservancies and state parks for watershed lands restoration, and to nonprofits and local agencies for river parkways.

Additionally, the proposition allocates $640 million to groundwater sustainability agencies and $500 million for public water system infrastructure improvements. The measure also stipulates that $1.398 billion be spent on projects benefiting state-defined disadvantaged communities, with another $2.637 billion prioritized for disadvantaged communities.

The bond is expected to generate about $8.4 billion in interest over a 40-year period, according to the state fiscal analyst, which would cost the state a total $17.3 billion.

During his presentation, Meral compared Prop 3 to previous water-related measures that have passed. His proposal is similar to Prop 1, which passed in 2014 and issued $7.12 billion in bond money for water infrastructure and watershed protection.

“But the remaining funds that were in Proposition 1, by the end of next year those will pretty much be expended by the various departments that receive them,” he said.

And Prop 68, which passed in the recent June election and was billed as “a parks and water bond,” he said, would have some overlap with his proposed measure, in terms of the components regarding safe drinking water and wastewater recycling.

The Zone 7 directors reacted somewhat hesitantly to his solicitation of their support. An endorsement from the agency would be unprecedented, they said — with the exception of their public support of the California WaterFix, which was not a ballot measure.

The directors debated for a while about whether to have staff analyze the proposition for a report in the future, with directors Angela Ramirez Holmes and Sandy Figuers saying they didn’t want to waste staff time, though director Bill Stevens pointed out that a presentation could be a good educational opportunity for the public.

Linda Kelly, a local resident who leads the group Citizens for Sensible Water Rates, spoke against spending staff time on the measure.

“I think that staff has a lot of work ahead of it, and important work to be doing which is direct benefit to Zone 7 customers,” she said. “To pull those resources for a state issue like this … seems to me we’re being asked to have our very capable staff spend more time than maybe is necessary, when it’s probably got legs of its own.”

The discussion was ultimately postponed to a future date.

In other business

*The meeting was preceded by a reception and swearing-in ceremony for the three of the water agency’s newly elected directors, two of whom are new to the board.

Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty conducted the swearing-in for the two new members: Olivia Sanwong and Dennis Gambs. Livermore Mayor John Marchand swore in incumbent director Bill Stevens. Director Sarah Palmer, also re-elected in June, was absent from the board meeting.

* General Manager Valerie Pryor presented on behalf of the Government Finance Officers Association that Zone 7 had been awarded a Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting.

“As somebody who’s been a CFO, previously for a long time, this is a very prestigious award, and all the credit goes to Osborn and his team,” she said, singling out Osborn Solitei, the agency’s treasurer and assistant general manager of finance.