How to Crack California’s Water Crisis

I don’t use the word crisis lightly, but the fact is, we are in a genuine crisis with water. Water is our state’s most critical resource, and the lack of a reliable and safe supply of water is a statewide issue. Without a doubt, California needs – and deserves – comprehensive water reform policies that include additional storage capacity and improved infrastructure for water conveyance. We need a real solution to this very real catastrophe, and we need it now.

70% of the water in our state is in Northern California, and 70% of the people in the state live in Southern California, a semi-arid region. It is clear what needs to happen: we have to transport the water to where the people are. Southern California depends heavily on imported water from the Colorado River, the eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, all of which have been severely reduced due to three years of drought. I believe a canal must be built so that fresh water can be reliably transported to Southern California when it is available or needed, and we must increase the amount of surface storage capacity. When it rains, we have to be able to collect the water and store it for later use.

I serve on the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and this summer was appointed to serve on the Joint Conference Committee on Water. This Committee was charged with crafting state-wide reforms for increased water reliability. Sadly, however, after days and weeks of meetings and failed attempts at compromise, the Conference Committee Report issued to the entire Senate was not a result of bi-partisan dialogue. It was not signed by any Republican member and did not contain the Republican proposals we have touted over the last several months.

The Conference Committee Report – put into Senate Bill 68 - does not address critical water needs for the people of California. Instead, this bad policy would actually make the problem worse and undermine efforts to ever solve this crisis. Furthermore, SB 68 does not seriously address many of the statewide issues that must be included in a comprehensive water reform.

There is zero funding for water storage in SB 68. There is no relief for struggling farms or farm workers. After losing tens of thousands of jobs in California, the plan is to create two new government bureaucracies – without delivering a single drop of water.

A special session on water is expected to be called soon. While I am disappointed that all stakeholders could not reach agreement in an attempt to alleviate the chronic water shortage that grips our state, I am hopeful that negotiations in the upcoming weeks will result in a bi-partisan agreement that provides a solution to an issue that impacts all of Californian.