YC will be setting for Arnold speech

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in Yuba City tomorrow to deliver a water policy speech focusing on the Strategic Plan he unveiled last month.

His visit is part of Water Week, during which he and water officials will highlight flood-control infrastructure upgrades.

Schwarzenegger will address the annual meeting of the Northern California Water

Association at 2 p.m. at the Bonanza Inn.

The Department of Water Resources kicked off the week Tuesday when DWR Director Lester Snow talked about the California Water Plan.

The plan is meant to help legislators and water managers shape the state's water future. It includes information about water supply and possible future needs.

State Sen. Sam Aanestad, R-Grass Valley, primary author of Schwarzenegger's strategy to improve levees and flood control - will also speak at Thursday's event.

“We're both committed to delivering a bond that will protect Northern California communities for generations to come and also result in additional water supplies that will benefit all residents of this state,” Aanestad said in a statement.

Aanestad's proposed $3 billion water bond - the Flood Protection and Clean, Safe, Reliable Water Supply Bond and Financing Act of 2006 & 2010 - includes nearly $1 billion for flood control and preparation for new water storage facilities. The plan will be on the June ballot.

“The governor's attendance at this event shows his commitment to flood control projects and additional water storage for California,” Aanestad said.

Reservoir projects for the Sacramento and San Joaquin river drainage areas are included in Aanestad's proposal.

State and federal planners have been studying five possible water-storage projects, including the Sites Reservoir. Located about 10 miles west of Maxwell, the dam would hold up to 1.8 million acre-feet of water and engulf most of Colusa County's Antelope Valley.

Surface storage will help deal with California's growing demand for water, climate change and other problems, Snow said.

Climate change means less snowpack and more precipitation for Northern California. Surface storage will help capture the water California has come to rely on, historically, in the form of spring snowpack melt.

Climatologists maintain the trend toward rain and away from snow also is making Mid-Valley communities more flood prone.

Aanestad said the state needs new flood control measures to avoid a Hurricane Katrina-like disaster in California.

“We're already 20 years behind on flood control efforts in California,” Aanestad said. “The governor wants to reassure Northern California water interests that he understands their concerns and is prepared to take concrete action.”

Appeal-Democrat reporter Eve Hightower can be reached at 749-4724. You may e-mail her at ehightower@appeal-democrat.com.