California water leaders – some floating ideas for common ground and others sinking in sharp geographical differences – outlined the opening round of managing our onrushing drought last week at A Conference on Water, produced by Capitol Weekly and the UC Capitol Center. The Gualco Group, Inc., was a sponsor.
Two Assemblywomen adopted a collegial, bipartisan outlook. “We must work this out without raised voices,” said Assembly Republican Leader Connie Conway. San Diego Democrat Lorena Gonzalez injected a note of humor when she said, “We think of north versus south as San Diego versus Los Angeles.”
The right drought and water management system, Gonzalez added, “will make everyone unhappy.” She detailed the ten-year effort to successfully diversify water resources in her area, and called for more storage as a resource for urban, agricultural and environmental users.
As Jerry Meral, former Natural Resources Agency official said, “It is a slippery slope to say one use is better than another use – this is not productive.”