Is the Legislative Water Deal a Good Deal for California?

The Legislature passed and the Governor signed a 5 bill package of bills that attempt to resolve many of California’s water issues. In brief,
SBX7 1 replaced the existing Bay Delta Authority and CalFed Program with a new governance structure, consisting of a new Delta Stewardship Council to develop and implement a Delta plan, a new Delta Conservancy to acquire lands and to facilitate ecosystem restoration, and a revised Delta Protection Commission.
SBX7 2 places on the November 2010 ballot an $11.1 billion general obligation bond to finance a variety of water projects and programs.
SBX7 6 established a statewide groundwater monitoring requirements for all defined groundwater basins and sub-basins.
SBX7 7 established a requirement that urban water use decline by 20 percent by 2020 under one of 4 approaches defined in the bill.
SBX7 8 increased reporting requirements of water use to the State Water Resources Control Board and added 25 positions to the Board’s water rights enforcement branch.

The bills were highly controversial, the subject of numerous informational hearings, and were intensely negotiated. There are widely different perspectives as to whether or not this package of bills help or hurt California’s ability to resolve some of its most pressing water problems.

Does this bill package, on the whole, move California water management forward in a meaningful way & why?

How do we make it work for the co-equal goals?

What aspects of the package, if any, impede progress?