SACRAMENTO -- Negotiations on major water legislation are in the "language drafting stage" right now, which is another way of saying Democrats and Republicans haven't agreed on anything.

Even so, Senate Democrats want a vote next week.

Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg "is pushing for a public hearing on the comprensive water package next week, and also a vote on the Senate floor," said his spokesman Jim Evans. "There's no agreement yet, but parties involved in the talks are drafting language conistent with negotiatons between the governor and legislative leaders."

The next move for Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, is less clear.

"Speaker Bass is working to brief her caucus this week on a potential framework for a water deal," said her spokeswoman, Shannon Murphy."She is continuing to work with [GOP leadership] to assess the Assembly's support for the proposal."

Said Assembly Member Juan Arambula, I-Fresno, who caucuses with Democrats: "We've been asked to set aside Monday to go up and possibly have a vote." But "we were told there is no deal."

It appears that significant obsticles remain that highlight the nearly impossible task of pleasing regional water interests, farmers, cities and environmentalists.

Democrats have tried to lure support from Republicans by offering a more than $9 billion bond proposal that potentially includes money for dams, a longtime GOP goal.

Environmentalists have long-opposed usging state money for dams. But Democrats are seeking to gain their support for the overall pacakge by including environmentally friendly policy changes, such as new conservation mandates, monitoring of groundwater and new agencies to oversee the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the state's water hub.

Republicans have made it clear they won't support a package with even the perfect bond if they disagree with the policy changes. They have argued that the proposals as written now will create burdensome regulations.

Talks over the weekend between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders focused on meeting Republican demands -- but so far the GOP is not satisfied, and they are putting together counter proposals.

"We're very concerned about the language that we've seen," said Assembly Member Tom Berryhill, R-Modesto.

Every inch closer the Dems move to the Reps, they risk losing the support of a key environmental coalition that includes the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Environmental Defense Fund. Other environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club, don't support even the current proposals, saying environmental protections aren't strong enough.

And here's a potentially even thornier problem:

At issue is a proposal that would allow the State Water Resources Control Board to develop new stream flow criteria for the Delta ecosystem to ensure the environment gets enough water. Northern California water agencies upstream of the Delta worry this could result in the loss of their water rights. They want the board to hold evidentiary hearings before taking their water.

Any taking should be "proportional to that supplier's contribution to the [environmental] problem," according to a recent letter sent to lawmakers by the East Bay Municipal Utility District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commision and others in the "Upstream Coalition." The water agencies hold sway with Bay Area Democrats, a key voting block in the Senate and Assembly.

But some environmental groups oppose the concessions sought by the upstream agencies, fearing they would make it harder to provide the water they say is needed for salmon and other species.

"Having the state board be able to determine what fish and the estuary need in terms of water ... is absolutley essential to us," said Cynthia Koehler, an attorney with an environmental group called Environmental Defense Fund. "Anything that undermines their ability to do that is a deal killer for us."