California Ready To Spend Billions On Water

California is giving voters the chance to decide whether the state should spend billions on water.

"Governor Jerry Brown signed the bill he brokered with state lawmakers to place a measure on the November ballot asking voter permission to issue $7.1 billion in new bonds, with $445 million to come from previous debt sales," Bloomberg reported.  

An outline of the bill shows $520 million would go to safe drinking water projects, $725 will go to water recycling, and $810 million to regional water management. In the largest allocations, around $900 million would go to groundwater projects, $2.7 billion to water storage, and about $1.5 billion to watershed protection. 

Brown framed the measure as an important step forward. 

"Water is the lifeblood of any civilization and for California it's the precondition of healthy rivers, valleys, farms, and a strong economy," he said in a statement. "With this water bond, legislators from both parties have affirmed their faith in California's future." 

It was not always clear that lawmakers could reach a deal. In California, water is a politically dicey issue dividing stakeholders by region, party, and industry. The agreement signals a "historic comprise," according to the Associated Press. 

"To get sign-off from the dizzying array of interests, Brown hunkered down with lawmakers from both parties behind closed doors for the past few weeks, finally giving Republicans more of the funding for reservoirs and water storage they have long sought," the AP reported.

Of course, no amount of funding can take away the fact that California is suffering through a record drought. 

"Despite its size, the measure will not solve the problems created by the drought nor is it expected to prevent rationing during future ones. Instead, the projects it will fund are designed to provide a greater cushion when the state finds itself dealing with prolonged water shortages in the decades ahead," the AP reported in a separate article. 

For more on policy and politics, check out Water Online's Regulations & Legislation Solution Center. 

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