Farmers and water managers may need to do more to engage with lawmakers outside the Central Valley before the state legislature can be persuaded to make significant investments in water storage. water and other infrastructure projects, members of the Water Association’s Sacramento Kern delegation told an audience Tuesday. of Kern County.
The three local elected officials — Assemblyman Vince Fong and state senators Shannon Grove and Melissa Hurtado — made the request in the context of their frustration with big-city coastal lawmakers. state power generation as well.
Tuesday’s call to action, echoing in some ways past legislative updates that have invited local business interests to make their case in the capital, came with the added distinction that California benefits from a budget surplus at a time of worsening drought.
“We have one-time money, so it makes sense to me that you take $3 billion (and) finish the project that we need,” Fong, R-Bakersfield, said, referring to stockpiling. surface water in general and at sites. Reservoir project in the Sacramento Valley, in particular.
Grove, R-Bakersfield, lamented the death of Senate Bill 559, which would have prompted greater investment in waterworks systems such as the Friant-Kern Canal. She took the opportunity to warn against a plan to spend state money to buy water rights – “a very scary situation we find ourselves in”.
Things appear to have improved somewhat since she asked state officials for a backup plan to produce food if the Central Valley’s water supply is cut off, Grove said. But she added that it remains important to have agriculture and water industry voices around the table in Sacramento.
“We rely on your expertise,” she said.
Hurtado, D-Sanger, said she sometimes struggles to deal with lawmakers in urban areas who may not understand the valley’s water needs. But she called it an opportunity to spread the message that water is not just a Central Valley problem, but a statewide necessity.
Hurtado voiced concerns about a state water bureaucracy that she called “just out of touch” — a statement that won her a round of applause at the well-attended lunchtime gathering at Bakersfield College. She also pointed to instances of confusion over how the power supply works, noting that state officials have suggested that solar projects could easily be moved to other areas, even if they haven’t. necessary access to power transmission lines.
Like her two colleagues with her on Tuesday, she called on audience members to more actively advocate for greater state investment in water infrastructure.
“We need to be more vocal,” she said. “We have to be there.”
Fong said local input could become important during ongoing negotiations to allocate public funds to address drought and climate change. He called for more funding for desalination, brackish water cleaning and surface water storage projects.
The Assemblyman also called for removing bureaucratic obstacles to getting more water to where it is needed in the valley. As he described it, lawmakers are “ready to make a decision with or without you,” so it’s worth the public having the time to meet and talk with outside lawmakers.
“We’re trying to educate lawmakers,” Fong said. “We are in part, but it is important that you also engage with the Legislative Assembly.”
Audience member Gene Lundquist, outgoing WAKC president, thanked Hurtado for his sponsorship of SB 559 and said he was proud of how well Kern County manages water.
He expressed concern that too much water is flowing into the ocean to provide environmental benefits in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta east of San Francisco.
“I’m not against the environment,” he said, “but there has to be a balance.”
