Jerry McNerney had just been recently elected to Congress in 2006.

The candidate with the green persona based on his private sector dabbling in alternative clean energy sources arrived for a meeting at Big League Dreams with Manteca officials riding in an older model government issue Chevrolet Impala that did anything but scream gas miser.

No one was impolite enough to question how come he was using what was for all practical purposes a gas guzzler given his campaign ads. But they did ask a question about an issue that is key to the economic, agricultural and environmental future of San Joaquin County - water.

The Congressman gave an honest, although slightly scary answer given the federal government’s role as a key player not only in the Delta but in moving vast amounts of water around California of which 70 percent of it passes through San Joaquin County. He confessed almost total ignorance on water issues. But he added he intended to become as educated as possible.

McNerney to his credit quickly switched his district mode of transportation from an eight-cylinder sedan to the gas miser Toyota Yaris. And while he may have studied up on the complex water issues that impact everything from flood protection, adequate urban and ag water to environmental and sports fishing concerns he has avoided any role of consequence shaping federal water policy.

Given the district probably has the most complex water issues in the country with the federal government actively involved in all phases it has left San Joaquin County without a fighter on its side. Had McNerney lost the recent election, it wouldn’t have been any better. Actually, with Dave Harmer who cast his lot around national issues instead of legitimate local federal issues it would probably have been worse.

This is not an indictment of McNerney or Harmer. It is simply reflective of the lack of interest on many Californians - especially those west of the Altamont Pass - about the non-stop water wars that have shaped this state and will dictate its future.

There weren’t any real students of water in the GOP primary except for perhaps Brad Goehring. His claim to fame, though, was taking on the overreaching federal wetlands policy when they tried to prevent him from using part of his vineyard property near Lockeford.

And Richard Pombo wasn’t exactly a player in water politics when he was in Congress at least when it came to pushing for a collective agreement to bring all parties to the table and to move the region and California forward.

The district’s best hope for a water expert with the moxie to push for- and broker - real solutions was Mike Machado. He passed on requests from fellow Democrats to run against Pombo in 2006 even after he was shown polls that indicated the Tracy Republican and fellow farmer was vulnerable. Machado didn’t believe Pombo was beatable and assumed the polling numbers reflected voters being asked questions that skewed the results.

All of that is water under the bridge.

Meanwhile San Joaquin County - and the entire 11th District since the East Bay relies heavily on water transfers - is now at the mercy of outside forces when it comes to its future.

Water is what has powered California from day one whether it was the sifting of water from the American River to find glittery metal or the carving hillsides using placer gold mining methods to the massive transfer of water that fueled the growth of great cities on the arid coast plus gave birth to the richest farming valley in the world.

McNerney’s lack of interest in becoming a warrior in the water wars doesn’t necessarily doom San Joaquin County but it doesn’t help it either.

Clean energy is important but it will do this country no good if a water strategy isn’t forged between the federal, state, regional, and local entities to keep California as a top producing farm state where water also feeds technological innovations supporting urban cities and factories.