Amid the state’s drought conditions and growing concerns about what this year’s fire season will look like, lawmakers are calling for additional attention to water storage and wildfire resources ahead of the state's final 2021-22 budget.
Following a $7 billion bond measure for water supply infrastructure – approved by two-thirds of California voters in 2014 – not one gallon of water has been stored, state Sen. Jim Nielsen, R-Tehama, told the Northern California Record.
“Because of bureaucratic impediments in the regulatory process,” said Nielsen, in whose district the town of Paradise is located. “Billions of dollars were set aside for large surface water storage and that hasn’t happened. This budget doesn’t deal with that.”
The California Water Commission website shows the first water storage facility isn’t scheduled to be operational until 2024.
The state may have an unexpected revenue windfall this year, but thus far the budget overlooks these water-saving resources, Assemblymember Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, wrote in a CalMatters commentary.
A spokesperson for the office of Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an email to the Record that the 2021-22 budget includes more than $2 billion for wildfire preparedness, but did not specify how much would address water storage.
“Water resilience and drought investments are separate from the $2 billion for emergency response and wildfire preparedness, and additional details will be available when the budget is finalized,” the spokesperson said.
Nielsen pointed to a recent CapRadio and NPR investigation that found money allocated earlier for wildfire prevention wasn’t enough to meet the state’s goals.
“I have fought for years to address cleaning up the forest by reducing the fuel load,” Nielsen said. “That didn’t happen. Environmental organizations stopped it dead for decades. Then we’ve had these cataclysmic fires that have now encroached on cites.”
Another lawsuit filed in March has sought to stop forest cleanup in the Creek Fire area, the San Joaquin Valley Sun reported.
Nielsen last month also wrote to Senate Budget Committee Chair Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, requesting joint hearings on wildfire prevention efforts, particularly progress on clearing out dry vegetation that fuels fires.