Here’s the plan to create more water for California – Orange County Register

Recent former congressman Tom Campbell’s comment “Why Delay Critical Water Storage Projects,” posted on these pages January 3, criticizing the California Water Commission’s continued failure to build voter-approved water storage projects. passed in 2014. There is an answer to the concerns raised by Campbell. : Water Infrastructure Funding Act 2022, a constitutional initiative proposed for a state vote in November 2022.

This initiative, which is currently circulating for signatures, requires that two percent of the state’s general funds be used to build new water supply projects, and it won’t shut down until the projects are closed. newly added 5 million acres per year to the state’s water supply. Two million acres per year could come from wastewater recycling, another 1 million from conservation programs, and the remainder from runoff into out-flow reservoirs and aquifers. And to ensure projects are environmentally responsible, it still gives the California Water Commission final authority over which projects to fund.

Instead of identifying specific projects to fund, this initiative carefully identifies eligible projects to include everything that will generate more water, from water conservation and recycling, to recharge aquifers, new reservoirs and restoration of the aqueduct to runoff water collection and brackish/oceanic desalination. It also funds repair projects, such as replacing pipes in public schools in Los Angeles.

The initiative is garnering broad and bipartisan support. At the heart of the proposed initiative is the requirement to set aside two percent of the state’s general fund until 5 million acres of water per year are created from a combination of new water projects and programs. new conservation. But this goal comes with an equally important provision, a qualifying project category that focuses not only on water availability, but also water quality and water equity. Quoting from the initiative itself (Section 3, subsection (b), section 6), eligible for funding are “projects designed to increase the availability of clean, safe, and affordable water.” affordable for all Californians, with an emphasis on California’s disadvantaged communities.”

There is a strong environmentalist argument in favor of more water infrastructure. If climate change is a real threat, then the need to upgrade California’s water infrastructure becomes more urgent, not less. This initiative funds projects that store storm surges in off-stream reservoirs and aquifers. It funds municipal wastewater recycling projects. It leaves the choice of projects for approval to the Water Commission, which environmentalists can hardly accuse of being hostile to environmentalist priorities.