http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics-government/ci_13852378?nclick_check=1

U.S. Rep. George Miller, a 35-year veteran of the Delta water debate, called the Legislature's newly passed water legislation a move in the right direction, but he has not decided whether to endorse the accompanying $11.5 billion bond measure.

"The bills do recognize that if you don't improve the health of the Delta, the California water system is in big trouble," said Miller, D-Martinez. "The debate used to be just about more taking of water from the Delta, and that has shifted to a recognition that the Delta has to be fixed or it all falls apart."

However, Miller said he worries about the lack of groundwater monitoring requirements in the bills, and the high cost of surface and underground reservoirs and a conveyance system often described as the Peripheral Canal.

The $11.5 billion water bond headed for the November 2010 ballot includes $3 billion for new water storage.

Water recycling and conservation are less expensive and deserve full scientific analysis, he said.

"I have said this to the Central Valley interests and everyone, 'Let's see where the science takes us,'"‰" Miller said. "And I've said that even recognizing that the science could take us to a conveyance system. Fine. I am willing to go through the science and look at screens, conservation, reuse and all of that."

For decades, he has staunchly opposed a Peripheral Canal.

The federal government, as enforcer of national environmental regulations, is expected to play a large role in whatever action the state pursues in the Delta.

Miller has convened a federal Delta task force composed of congressional representatives from the Delta, including Reps. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and John Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove.

Six federal agencies in September said that they will produce a Delta recovery strategy by Dec. 15. The agencies include the departments of Interior, Agriculture and Commerce; the Army; the Environmental Protection Agency; and the Council on Environmental Quality.