Time to make hard decisions about water

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California lawmakers face an epic moment in the wrangling over water.

They now are mulling an imperfect but heavily negotiated package of reforms for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the state's use of water.

If approved with a reasonable amount of funding, this package holds promise for kick-starting restoration of the delta, improving monitoring of groundwater, financing new water storage and reducing wasteful water practices and illegal diversions of water.

The package would also ensure a full study of new ways for moving water through and around the delta.

California last faced such stark choices in 1982, when voters were asked to approve a peripheral canal that a divided Legislature had authorized two years earlier. Voters rejected it. Twenty-seven years have passed, and it's hard to argue that the status quo has served anyone's interests.

The delta has continued to decline, even with new environmental laws aimed at protecting this estuary. Fish are in peril.

Farm districts and cities have seen their water deliveries reduced. The federal courts are threatening to take over the management of water in the delta, much as they have taken over the state's prison health care system.

Delta levees continue to erode. More could collapse in an earthquake. Efforts to restore wetlands, an essential filter and form of habitat in the delta, have been fitful. Not enough work has been done to ensure efficient use of urban water supplies.

The package negotiated by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg is not perfect. But for California to make any progress on water, there must be compromise. In recent weeks, Steinberg has worked to talk to all sides and modify the package to address many concerns.

The bottom line: Is this policy package an improvement on the status quo? The answer is a solid yes. It takes progressive steps forward on efficiency and groundwater, with protections for Northern California's water rights. It doesn't give a green light to a canal. Indeed, such a project would undergo a multiyear review before state and federal agencies sign off on any preferred option for new "conveyance" in the delta.

California can't keep putting off hard decisions. The time is now. Failure to modernize the state's water policies could mean another 27 years of frustration, litigation and degradation.