In a dry time, plans for water projects flow

What MWD most needs, he said, is a more reliable supply of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

"Our priority has been to focus on the delta," he said.

Under their water proposals, Schwarzenegger and Perata would put $1 billion into what they call delta "conveyance," a catch-all term for various proposals to move water more efficiently and with less harm through the delta.

A maze of channels and reclaimed islands between Sacramento and Tracy, the delta is a source of water for two of three Californians and wellspring for the state's $32-billion agricultural industry.

But the pumps that divert water before it can flow to the Pacific Ocean are vulnerable to regulatory shutdown to protect endangered salmon and smelt, and the earthen levees that channel water are threatened by earthquakes, floods and rising sea levels.

Environmentalists helped defeat a 43-mile "peripheral" canal proposal in 1982, saying that it would allow Southern California to divert an ecologically devastating amount of water from the estuary.

Since then, many scientists and some environmentalists have argued that a canal actually might help fish by isolating them from the powerful effects of the pumps.

Still, any discussion of a delta fix faces close scrutiny by myriad antagonistic interests.

Last year, Schwarzenegger named a blue-ribbon panel to study the best way to protect the delta as a water source and wildlife corridor. The panel's recommendations are due in November. Schwarzenegger has espoused a peripheral canal in recent speeches. But his proposed bond measure, like Perata's, would incorporate whatever recommendation comes from the blue-ribbon panel.

In touting his plan, Schwarzenegger said California leaders could no longer procrastinate on building reservoirs and fixing the delta.

"I was sent to Sacramento to create some action and to get us moving again," he said, "and to make progress on issues that have been swept under the rug for too long."

But some observers say that whether the governor and Legislature succeed in negotiating a bond measure for next year's ballot may depend on a higher power: next winter's precipitation.

"As a general rule in California, we don't solve problems until there's a crisis," said UC Berkeley political scientist Bruce Cain. "The crisis is what forces people to abandon the status quo."

nancy.vogel@latimes.com

Times staff writer Patrick McGreevy contributed to this report.