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i
W
ater, quite si
mply, is the San Diego region’s most precious natural resource.
Its value is i
mmeasurable, sustaining and growing our economy, and supporting
this region’s enviable quality of life. Ensuring a safe, reliable water supply has been
a consistent challenge for San Diego (and for the rest of California, for that matter) for
centuries.
Many ti
mes while in public office I saw up close the highs and lows connected
with how well our taps were flowing.
While serving as
mayor of San Diego, the region enjoyed strong economic growth
and began to emerge as a diverse business hub as a steady stream of i
mported water
flowed to the region. Later, in my last years as a U.S. Senator and in my first years
as governor, I saw San Diego and many other parts of the state suffer severe blows
to their economies and livelihoods as
California
weathered a six-year drought.
That drought was a fundamental turning point for San Diego County, as this book later
describes. Out of that crisis came a unified regional resolve to use visionary planning and
smart investments to ensure San Diego’s water supplies would be much more resilient to
shortages. In 1998, I
was privileged to play a role in helping San Diego diversify its water sup-
plies by signing into law a bill that provided essential funding and authorizations that enabled
the Water Authority to obtain its own Colorado River water supplies through a historic water
conservation and transfer agreement, and two major canal-lining projects. It was a major
milestone that will
benefit San Diegans for generations. But the challenge of providing a safe,
reliable water supply has increased since then, owing to population growth, cli
mate uncer-
tainties, and the needs of our modern, diverse and complex economy.
The public needs to be knowledgeable and engaged in water issues to ensure our great
communities will continue to thrive. A critical component of that knowledge is an under-
standing of our water history and the forces that shaped our current water supplies and
infrastructure.
This book, inspired and developed by the Water Authority and generously funded by the
Hans and Margaret Doe Charitable Trust, i
mproves that understanding. It is an easy-to-read
overview of the development of the region’s water resources, and how it has been affected
by politics, personalities and landmark events. I hope you enjoy reading this book, and
that it inspires you to be involved in water issues of vital i
mportance to our region.
Foreword
Governor Pete Wilson