While some were counting the defeat of Richard Pombo as a victory, there were others who had no time to celebrate. At 8:00 the morning after the election, while others were still pinching themselves to see if it were all still true, those others were in Los Angeles to attend a conference on Visioning the Delta, held at the HQ of the Metropolitan Water District in LA.

Some might find a bit of irony, or even become apprehensive over that choice of locations, as many feel that the Metropolitan Water District is a major contributor to the problem. They have a history of being takers, maybe even as much so as the Taker in Chief, as Stockton Record columnist Mike Fitzgerald labeled Pombo. But, the attitude is still the same. Growth is good, backed by civic boosterism designed to support developer profitability.

The flip side of this is the simple fact that water is an essential component of life and that finite supplies of water must be managed to support many different uses: agriculture, residential living, industry, transportation, recreation and still to maintain a balanced environment. When it gets out of whack in any one area, then everyone has to pay a price and contribute to a solution.