CALIFORNIA - California legislators from both houses have finally agreed to compromise on a $7.5 billion water bond late Wednesday evening, just mere hours before the state secretary began printing election voter guidelines.
The plan now includes $2.7 billion total for water storage, such as dams and reservoirs, and an additional $50 million for groundwater cleanup, $50 million more for river restoration and water recycling, $30 million more for statewide water management projects, and $20 million more for clean drinking water, according to San Jose Mercury News.
Barry Bedwell, President of the California Fresh Fruit Association, said in a statement, “We believe the proposed water bond is a good agreement for California Fresh Fruit Association members and California agriculture, providing real additional water for the years to come.”
Support from both Republicans and Democrats was overwhelming for the proposal as well.
“We hit the sweet spot when it comes to a balance between the various water needs of California – between storage, groundwater, clean drinking water, and the whole host of other investments that are in this bond,” said State Senate Democratic Leader Darrell Steinberg, Los Angeles Times reports.
“It was real critical to get a bond that actually helped fund two reservoirs,” said State Senate Republican Leader Bob Huff, according to the Fresno Bee. “We’ve had a lot of bonds in the last 15 years that haven’t had any storage, so we finally have a water bond that has water in it.”
The new measure now replaces the previous $11.1 billion bond that was originally written in 2009. Lawmakers were naturally concerned that the high price would draw criticism from voters, and had subsequently postponed a statewide vote twice.
Furthermore, a number of advocates have wondered if the new water bond proposal would block bond money from being used on Governor Jerry Brown’s multi-billion dollar plan to build twin tunnels underneath the San Joaquin River Delta to pump water from northern California to southern farms and cities.
Democratic State Senator Lois Wolk assures, however, that the measure is “tunnel neutral” and has sufficient safeguards, though it is still unknown if there will be further amendments to appease certain unpersuaded environmental groups, according to San Jose Mercury News.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we look forward to the hopeful passage of the measure in the upcoming November election.
