SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders unveiled a proposed $687.4-million drought-relief package Wednesday to free up water supplies and aid Californians facing financial ruin because of the state's prolonged dry spell.
The proposal would provide millions of dollars to clean up drinking water, improve conservation and make irrigation systems more efficient. It would increase penalties for those who illegally divert water.
The plan also contains money for emergency food and housing for those out of work because of the drought, including farmworkers, and to provide emergency drinking water to communities in need.
Under the legislation, which could be enacted within weeks, the State Water Resources Control Board would be directed to find ways to expand the use of recycled water and storm-water runoff.
Funds also would be available to replenish groundwater supplies, and for state and local agencies to clear brush in drought-stricken areas that pose a high fire risk.
Brown, appearing before reporters at the state's emergency operations center, said that unlike many problems in Sacramento, "this is not caused by partisan gridlock or ideology. It's caused by Mother Nature herself.
"We really don't know how bad the drought is going to be," Brown said.
Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) said the intent was to provide drought relief as quickly as possible and avoid "the ideological vortex" that has bedeviled California water policy for decades.
The new package sidesteps a controversial proposal to replumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and is silent on a multibillion-dollar water bond measure scheduled for the November ballot.
"The idea is to do all that we can with the resources we have," Steinberg said.
California's highly charged water issues have also attracted attention in Washington, where House Republicans want to dismantle federal environmental regulations that they say take precious water supplies from California farmers.
Such a move is opposed by Democrats, including President Obama.
The president, during a tour of parched San Joaquin Valley croplands last week, raised the GOP's ire by tying California's drought to global warming.
He said that unless carbon pollution is curbed, such dry spells will grow more severe.
The president pledged $160 million in federal assistance to farmers, cattle ranchers and others hurt by dry conditions.
No partisan divide is expected to impede the new drought legislation in Sacramento, where Democrats hold a supermajority in the Assembly and Senate and could approve the package without Republican support.
Still, passage is not assured: When it comes to water, Californians are split more by geography than by political allegiance.
The Democratic proposal announced Wednesday would pump money into long-term programs as well as provide immediate drought relief to growers and to communities at risk of running out of drinking supplies.
The strategy drew mixed reactions.
Tim Quinn, executive director of the Assn. of California Water Agencies, called the legislation "a bold move by the governor" that would help protect the state against future droughts by funding local projects "that can make a difference soon."
Copyright © 2014, Los Angeles Times
via: http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-drought-20140219,0,2302688.story#axzz2tn6ucBnZ
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