Sacramento lawmakers deserve congratulations for passage of a five-bill water deal that includes a plan for an $11 billion water bond to pay for a set of much needed infrastructure improvements. That the Legislature can get a deal is no mean achievement, given the current political climate.

The package includes legislation that creates a governance structure for delta water issues, seeks 10 percent urban water consumption cuts by 2015 and 20 percent by 2020, authorizes removal of a dam on the Klamath River, blesses a variety of water storage projects, including a new dam north of Fresno, and adopts various environmental and conservation measures.

However, it will take some time to tease out all of the who-gets-what in a measure that some describe as "a little something for everyone," and whether the good outweighs the goodies.

One small, hopeful sign: It does not contain an earmark for Senate Majority Leader Darrell Steinberg, who dropped his request for a $10 million grant for a Sacramento tolerance program in order to get the deal done.

Unfortunately, the bill also does not authorize or provide a much-discussed peripheral canal to more easily move delta water south into the Central Valley and Southern California, although proponents suggest it contains the first necessary steps to that goal.

While we are concerned that recent borrowing (bonding) by the state will hit the limits of both the credit market and the ability of the state to repay the debt, we also believe that fixing the state's water woes is key to rebuilding a healthy California economy.

So for getting this done, thank you, Sacramento.