John A Nejedly
Senator Nejedly, John A. (OH 89-31) Retired
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John A Nejedly
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Senator John A.
Nejedly, Ret.
August 8, 2002
Mr. Ken Clark, Editor A LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Journal recently published an article delineating the claimed necessity of adding treated raw sewage to the source of water supply for domestic and industrial use by reason of current short deliveries to these consumers. There are issues on this subject that were not mentioned in the article. First, any claimed shortfall in these categories of use does not lie in inadequacies of water supply, but lies in the manner of its distribution. Constitutionally, legislatively and judicially, domestic use must first be provided the highest quality water available and in sufficient quantity to meet Public Trust requirements that the most beneficial use of the resource be achieved. Those obligations are not met in present allocations of the resource. In 1998, agriculture contributed only 1.9% of the Gross State Product, while that commerce sequestered 85% of managed water available. To secure that monopoly of water in California, the pristine waters of the state have been eliminated from natural channels and diverted to agricultural uses such as alfalfa, while the claim is now made that domestic inadequacy is to be met by reclaiming sewage. Further discussion of the travesty of management in California can be found on the website, CaliforniaWaterCrisis.org. However, these points must be recognized. While it is true that human wastes have been utilized for centuries, the integrated society of today must be kept in mind. In addition to the costs of treating and storage of sewage and the expense of establishing and maintaining a separate delivery system, sewage reclamation presents serious risks. Human errors, mechanical and power failures, misconnection to potable water systems, mutating pathogens and the MTBEs of our chemical world and already identified contamination of underground natural supplies (by application of treated sewage to surface uses) clearly demonstrate the inability to assess the costs and consequences of treated sewage and that those factors may be accelerated by other circumstances not yet disclosed. North Bay Journal of Business Page 2 An extended statement of background of water management is contained in the website referred to above. However, in brief, presently 85% of the managed water in California has been sequestered by agriculture. Of the remaining 15%, 30% is consumed by industry and 9% of the 15% is obtained for domestic requirements for potable water. If only 1.6% of the 85% secured by agriculture were to be conserved in its use and redirected to domestic use, the amount available for domestic use would be doubled and the need for treating sewage to accommodate domestic allocations would be eliminated. However, if the 85% monopoly of agriculture (which includes the highest quality water in the state) is not reduced, domestic requirements and increasing demand can only turn to treated sewage use or other far more expensive treatment methods. In the inevitable droughts of the future, water will continue to be managed solely in the interests of export contractors. Reservoirs will be operated in the same fashion as in the 1976-77 drought, when no consideration was given to domestic requirements and flows to accommodate the paper priority of domestic use were ignored, and export pumping will continue further devastation disregard of the already endangered fishery. The experience of the Contra Costa Water District in 1977 will be repeated. That experience included deterioration of its Delta source to a point below public health standards requiring the District to purchase slightly higher quality water from East Bay Municipal Utility District. Agencies of the State established precisely to discharge the responsibilities of resource management in the public interest have allowed present circumstances to emerge. In fact, the present governmental structure makes discharge of responsibilities impossible. Administration now is established by appointed officials whose tenures endure only to the term of the appointing authority. Any action taken by such agencies is subject to veto by the Governor. A succeeding Governor whose administration does not support an adopted program can terminate that plan and create one of his own. Obviously, an entirely new structure for resource management--as in electric power--is required, either through legislation or the initiative process. Requiring the people to bear the serious risks and expenses of treating sewage, while pristine Sierra sources irrigate farm crops not dependent on that quality source, cannot be tolerated. Finally, to repeat in part, if agriculture were to reduce by only 1.6% its current demand, easily accomplished by more efficient applications, concerns regarding the use of treated sewage would be eliminated. Sincerely,
Senator John A. Nejedly, Ret |
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