California lawmakers reach consensus on drought plan

Following months of negotiations, California state legislators finally reached an agreement to deal with the state’s crippling drought crisis. Driven to action by the multiyear drought’s devastating effects on the economy and livelihood of California residents, lawmakers voted to put a $7.5 billion drought remediation plan on the state’s November ballot.

SEE ALSO: California drought forces farmers to depend on food banks

After nearly a year of inaction and lack of compromise from both sides of the aisle, Gov. Jerry Brown led a late charge yesterday that managed to bring both sides together before the November ballot measure deadline passed last night.

“On the last possible day to approve the ballot measure, Democrats and Republicans fought over what projects to include, with Republicans arguing for more funding for reservoirs and Democrats saying that damming rivers and flooding canyons to build them is damaging to the environment,”  Al Jazeera America reported.

Last-minute intervention by Gov. Jerry Brown, a fiscal moderate, brought the sides together. The ballot measure sailed through both houses of the legislature: 77-2 in the Assembly and 37-0 in the Senate.”

If approved by voters in November, the drought plan will replace an already-existing remediation plan, which is widely considered fiscally taxing and ineffective.

The new $7.5 billion resolution focuses most of its energy on a more pragmatic and environmentally prudent use of the state’s water resources. Amongst its most significant proposals are an increment in the state’s number of reservoirs, the promotion of more sensible water practices through the use of technology, and the cleaning of the state’s groundwater supply.

Despite being $11 billion cheaper than the previous drought plan—which state legislators had instituted in 2009— Gov. Brown still believes that the plan is approximately 25 percent more expensive than the state can afford in its current budgetary state. If approved, the resolution will likely be funded by the issuing of new bonds.

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SEE ALSO: Mid-2014, California’s drought has gotten worse

James Nash of Bloomberg News explains: “California Governor Jerry Brown agreed to boost water spending plans to $7.5 billion, a compromise 25 percent higher than he had said the state could afford, as drought tightened its grip on cities and farms. 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.”

And yet, despite its significant costs, the ballot measure seems likely to be approved considering the dire state of the Golden State’s water supply. The historic drought has now extended itself for three years while affecting over 80 percent of the state’s territory.

Nash further describes the bleakness of the situation by explaining that, “…wildfires have consumed tens of thousands of acres, according to federal data. Most major reservoirs are at less than half of capacity, state records show. Farmers have idled fields, and urban residents face restrictions on lawn watering and car washing. [To top it all off] Many restaurants no longer serve water to patrons unless they request it.”