A showdown is set for Monday on the proposal to have the City of Portland turn over the Bull Run Reservoir system to a regional panel controlled by suburban interests. Conceived a few years ago by City Commissioner Erik Sten, who no longer runs the Water Bureau, this plan will have Portlanders drinking Willamette River water in no time.

The suburban players, who bring to the table delicious well water and intake pipes from the river, say that if they don't see some more positive signs from the city at Monday's meeting, the whole idea may fall apart.

Let's hope so.

Commissioner Dan Saltzman is running the bureau now. If you're like me and you think this is a bad concept that deserves a quick but quiet death, now might be a good time to shoot him an e-mail message to that effect.