Opinion: California water proposal has dark, hidden currents

When’s the last time you thought about where your water comes from? If you aren’t steeped in water policy, it’s fair to assume you may not appreciate the complexities of managing our water systems. But what’s vital to know is that water is the essential building block to ensure prosperous, healthy communities.

This resource ensures housing gets built, people can afford groceries and local businesses can offer good jobs. Legislation introduced in Sacramento creates uncertainty that threatens these underpinnings of our economy.

As a former legislator, I trust that my former colleagues had the best intentions in putting these policies forward, but residents should be aware that these bills are far reaching and will create dramatic changes that increase costs.

Three bills currently moving through the California Legislature – SB 389, AB 1337, and AB 460 – aim to provide the State Water Resources Control Board with new authorities to regulate water. On the surface, this may seem like a good idea, but still water runs deep.

These bills will effectively upend due process for water rights holders in California and empower Water Board members to supersede California’s state court process. This will create massive uncertainty of water supplies that serve as the lifeblood for us and to numerous industries.

I understand the challenge of crafting complex water policies that support diverse needs. During my time in the Legislature representing San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, I worked with colleagues, the State Water Board, regional water suppliers and constituents on policies that improved water management statewide. I made progress by streamlining compliance standards for urban water suppliers, curbing excessive water use in residential areas and allowing the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to complete work on construction projects integral to water capture and storage throughout the Bay Area.

Our region needs to build 441,176 units of housing over the next eight years, with over 180,000 units available to low-income residents. Housing developers must prove they have access to sufficient water supply in order to build new housing. Instead of eliminating the constraints to new development, these bills will contribute to the problem by creating water supply uncertainty.

According to agricultural experts in the state, transforming the water management system will also hike up the price of food. More than 1 in 10 people in the Bay Area are food-insecure. Upending water rights law will inevitably increase costs to the agricultural industry. This will hit consumers at the grocery store, with those most affected being the ones who can least afford it.

Jobs would also be in jeopardy. The construction and agriculture industries account for over 100,000 jobs in San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond alone. Each of these professions rely on the certainty of water rights, allowing them to ensure adequate supply of the resource. Without this certainty, businesses facing increased costs for water and uncertainty of water supply may be forced to halt operations or cancel projects, leaving workers without jobs and development delayed or unfinished.

I shared what we could be facing, but the reality is that we don’t know the extent to which these bills could harm us. Lawmakers haven’t seriously considered this. I know there are tradeoffs in any legislative process – but the Legislature should aim to fully understand these tradeoffs before acting.

I appreciate the difficult task legislators have in front of them to balance competing priorities. But when it comes to water, we simply can’t afford leaks throughout our entire state’s economy.

Jerry Hill is a former state senator and assemblyman 19th District who represented San Mateo and Santa Clara County residents in the California Legislature.