Just fill in the blanks

The Association of California Water Agencies is making it easy for its members to endorse next November’s $11.1 billion water bond.

ACWA has published a handy-dandy kit for member agencies, complete with talking points, draft resolutions and pre-written press releases. All a water district manager has to do is fill in the blanks, email it to the media, and there you have a thoughtful, carefully crafted and individualized public proclamation.

The first sentence of the suggested press release:

“The _____ Board of Directors today voted to adopt a position of support for an $11.14 billion water bond set for the November 2010 ballot.”

Further down, a quote, purportedly said or at least written by the managers of these districts:

“‘Our statewide water system faces a growing list of challenges that threaen our long-term water supply reliability,’ said _______. “‘There is an urgent need to reinvest in our statewide system, and this bond will help us do that. It will also help us expand local and regional projewcts such as conservation, recycling, desalination and groundwater cleanup so we can meet the water needs of our growing state.’”

So, if you see five managers from five different water districts quoted exactly the same way about the bond, it’s not a coincidence.

This is not to pick on the folks pushing the water bond. Pre-written press releases have been used before. Advocates on all sides of issues have urged the public to send identical letters to state or federal representatives, to save busy folks the trouble of crafting their own. Here’s an example I stumbled upon just this morning from the Environmental Working Group.

But water districts have disparate interests based upon geography, land use and their place in line in the water rights hierarchy.

It’s unlikely that many districts in the greater San Joaquin County region will be filling in the blanks on ACWA’s press release.