Global Courant
SACRAMENTO —
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said he didn’t understand why sports stadiums could be built quickly but other major projects could not. If he really didn’t know, he probably just learned.
Sports are popular. This does not apply to all public works projects. Some are hated.
The Democratic-dominated legislature gave the Democratic governor a lesson in real world politics and policy-making: don’t try to go above your weight.
The legislature, when united, is equal to the executive in power.
Newsom tried to ram his last-minute proposal to expedite construction of a highly controversial water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta through the legislature.
Environmental groups and delta people, including local farmers, strongly oppose the $16 billion, 45-mile project that would siphon water from the Sacramento River to southbound aqueducts for irrigation and cities, including Los Angeles.
Lawmakers rebelled against Newsom and adamantly refused to consider his tunnel acceleration plan, forcing him to back down and withdraw the proposal. It was a humiliating setback for the governor of California.
The Delta Plan was part of a legislative package of 11 bills that Newsom belatedly unveiled on May 19, pushing it into budget deliberations. It had no real ties to the budget, but the governor’s decision allowed his package to avoid scrutiny from legislative policy committees. His goal was to reduce red tape and make it easier to set up transportation, clean energy and water projects.
Past legislators and governors – Jerry Brown and Arnold Schwarzenegger – have provided regulatory shortcuts to facilitate construction of football stadiums and basketball arenas. The stadiums weren’t built for a variety of reasons, but at least two posh basketball arenas were—for the Sacramento Kings and San Francisco’s Golden State Warriors.
“I love sports,” says Newsom, a former Santa Clara University Broncos baseball pitcher. “But I also like roads. I love transit. I like bridges. And I love clean energy projects like the one we see here.”
Newsom unveiled its infrastructure acceleration package on a prospective solar farm near Modesto in May. He also considered building wind, battery storage and semiconductor plants. Add to the list regional rail, bridges and water storage — plus the delta tunnel.
“It’s not just about stadiums,” Newsom continued. “And we have proven that we can do it for stadiums.
“So why on earth can’t we translate that into all these other projects?”
It’s a fair question. I’ve wondered about this in previous columns as well.
One answer is that stadiums and arenas are built by powerful billionaires who can handle tons of political weight. They can help politicians run for re-election. If nothing else, they can be called up for playoff tickets.
But the main answer is that professional football and basketball are extremely popular with voters. It’s twofold. There is only marginal resistance to helping team owners build local playing facilities.
Contrast that with the proposed tunnel, a 39-foot-wide pipe that would funnel fresh Sacramento River water from the northern delta to aqueducts in the more saline southern delta. The delta is California’s most important water hub, serving 27 million people and irrigating 3 million acres.
The tunnel would run under the delta, depriving farmers and small communities of fresh water that now flows through the west coast’s largest estuary. And it would reduce fresh water for struggling baby salmon, which is already an endangered species.
Newsom and state water officials counter that the tunnel would save the delta as a prime California plumbing facility. It would ensure the reliability of water supplies to farms in San Joaquin Valley and coastal cities. Otherwise, the prognosis for the delta is bleak due to sea level rise due to climate change and potential earthquakes that could flatten levees.
But delta opponents argue that sea level rise is another reason to maintain freshwater streams to repel the saltwater from San Francisco Bay. And they point out that no earthquake has ever seriously damaged a delta dike. In fact, there is no major error under the delta.
Bottom line: Delta people don’t trust state water officials to operate the tunnel in a way that would protect them and the estuary. They fear being drained, as the Owens Valley was at the Los Angeles Aqueduct a century ago.
Governors have been trying to build this project, in one form or another, for six decades. They have been defeated by voters or a coalition of delta people and environmentalists.
This time Newsom tried to play hardball. He threatened to veto the legislature’s pet budget projects unless they approved his proposal to speed up tunnel construction and other infrastructure projects.
Key to his plan is a questionable goal of reducing the time it takes to complete lawsuits under the California Environmental Quality Act. He wants a term of 270 days if a judge deems it feasible. That seems impractical.
Legislative leaders told the governor last week that the delta legislation was a nonstarter. He pushed them anyway, but finally gave up on Monday.
The rest of the infrastructure acceleration package was left to further negotiation.
Newsom can still finish with a few wins. But on the delta, the old left pitcher was hammered and never should have made the mound.
