Areas of Compromise

Special committees met through 1957, 1958, and 1959, attempting to draft a constitutional amendment that would satisfy everyone. That avenue proved futile. What the legislators devised was a series of laws tied to the main bill, called the Burns-Porter Act, after Senator Hugh Burns of Fresno and Assemblyman Carley Porter of Compton, the two key legislative leaders on water policy.

One of these laws, the Davis-Grunsky Act, assured northern counties that water would be available for future projects and $130 million of the $1.75 billion bond funding was earmarked for those projects. The County of Origin and Watershed of Origin acts were reaffirmed in the Burns-Porter Act and in SWP water supply contracts. Despite the affirmation of their water rights, Northern Californians were concerned that these contracts provided for additional water facilities if needed in the future, opening the possibility of more water going south.

For southern parties, the Burns-Porter Act contained most of the guarantees they sought, including contracts for firm water supplies that future legislatures could not change, sufficient funds to pay for the facilities to deliver water to Southern California, and funds to construct only the facilities specified in the act and no others. The act included additional facilities if needed though those remained vague.

Delta water users were placated by the Delta Protection Act of 1959, which protected their water uses and promised them good water quality for all purposes.