Historic legislation to improve California’s water supply stalled in Legislature
A vote on bills to improve California’s water supply stalled in the state legislature Tuesday. The Senate has passed several of the bills that comprise a comprehensive overhaul of the way the state manages and monitors water. One of the more controversial bills has hit a snag.
California's Senate approved most of the legislation designed to improve the state's water supply.
Mostly Democrats, but also some key Republicans, have voted for bills that establish new governance of the state's key water source and pave the way for construction of a canal to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta toward Central and Southern California.
Senators approved a state target to cut urban water use by 20 percent in the next 11 years, and mandated that growers conserve more, too. They agreed to spend close to $10 billion to do it, and allocated $3 billion of that money to build dams.
Lawmakers have struggled to reach this level of agreement for decades.
The Achilles’ heel of the deal turns out to be a proposal that would empower the State Water Resources Control Board to increase fines for water theft.
Republicans have opposed the measure because they fear the board would also have authority to revoke water rights.
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