$1 billion plan to battle drought in California

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Politicians don’t have the power to make it rain, so on Thursday they tried the next best thing – they proposed showering California’s parched landscape with money.

Gov. Jerry Brown and top lawmakers from both parties unveiled a plan that would invest more than $1 billion to improve the state’s water infrastructure, provide emergency assistance to struggling communities and protect wildlife.

“This is a struggle,” Brown said during a Capitol news conference. “Something we’re going to have to live with. For how long, we’re not sure.”

With snow levels in the Sierra Nevada dramatically below normal and California in its fourth consecutive year of drought, lawmakers touting the emergency relief plan acknowledged their limitations.

Assembly minority leader Kristin Olsen, R-Modesto, called the proposal a “Band-Aid,” and Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, cautioned that it “will not solve our water emergency.” Lawmakers are expected to act next week on the legislation.

Most of the plan involves spending bond funds that voters already approved or paying money faster than previously scheduled. Some projects may not be completed for years.

Only a small fraction of the proposal announced Thursday – $27.4 million – requires new funding. That money would largely be used to deliver food and water to Californians in the Central Valley.

The proposal also would tap into a $7.5 billion water bond that voters approved in November, spending $272.7 million to safeguard drinking water and support recycling and desalination initiatives.

The biggest chunk of funding in the measure would not directly address the drought. Flood control projects would get about $660 million, included in a bond measure passed by voters a decade ago and scheduled to expire next year.

Brown explained the inclusion of that money by warning of “extreme weather events” that can be caused by climate change.

“All of a sudden, when you’re all focused on drought, you can get massive storms that flood through these channels and overflow and cause havoc,” he said.

This is the second consecutive year that lawmakers have considered emergency legislation to address the drought.

Last year, Brown signed a $687.4 million bill for infrastructure projects using previously approved bond money.

So far, a third of that money has been spent, said Richard Stapler, spokesman for the California Natural Resources Agency.

The latest proposal comes amid growing concern about the state’s dry conditions.

On Tuesday, the State Water Board tightened its watering restrictions, telling urban agencies to limit the number of days residents can water their yards.

The board also warned that it would impose tougher restrictions in coming months if local agencies don’t ramp up conservation efforts.