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Prop. 3: California Water Projects Bond Measure Goes Down To Defeat

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Nanette Asimov

Backers mourned the loss of Proposition 3 on Wednesday, the nearly $9 billion bond measure that would have modernized old dams, restored tainted watersheds and created desalination plants, among dozens of other water projects throughout the state. Prop. 3 — backed by state water agencies, farming organizations, social justice advocates and environmentalists, but not the Sierra Club — lost by 52 to 48 percent, a difference of 320,000 votes out of nearly 7 million ballots cast.

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Brown, Newsom Wade In To Delay Plan To Withhold Water From Cities, Farms

/in , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

A river restoration plan that would restrict the water supplies of California cities and farms, including San Francisco, was put on hold Wednesday after Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom joined Gov. Jerry Brown in requesting more time for negotiations over the controversial initiative. The State Water Resources Control Board was scheduled to vote Wednesday on a years-long proposal to boost flows in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries, part of an effort to restore California’s declining salmon population and revive the languishing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

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Three Things To Know About Colorado River Plans In The Works

/in , /by /Nevada Public Radioby Luke Runyon

Water managers along the Colorado River are trying to figure out how to live with less. Climate change is growing the gap between the river’s supply, and the demands in the communities that rely on it, including seven western U.S. states and Mexico. The federal government recently released proposals called Drought Contingency Plans designed to keep the Colorado River’s biggest reservoirs from falling to levels where water is unable to be sent through the dams that hold up Lakes Powell and Mead.

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Did Gas, Homeless People And Sick Kids Kill California’s Water Bond?

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Ryan Sabalow, Lewis Griswold, and Bryan Anderson

California voters on Tuesday rejected a water bond for the first time in almost 30 years, disregarding pleas from its backers that the money would fix crumbling infrastructure, bring clean drinking water to disadvantaged communities and kick-start badly needed environmental restoration projects. As of Thursday’s tally, 54 percent of voters had rejected the $8.9 billion Proposition 3 that promised funds to help repair Oroville Dam and aid Central Valley farmers facing groundwater problems, among a list of other expenditures.

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Red Flag Fire Weather Warning Issued For San Diego County

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Gary Robbins

A red flag fire weather warning will be in place across San Diego County, with the exception of the coast, from 10 a.m. Thursday afternoon to 10 p.m. Friday due to a combination of moderate Santa Ana winds, low humidity and warm temperatures. The National Weather Service says the winds will arrive out of the northeast and will blow 20 to 30 mph, with gusts to 30 to 40 mph, mostly across the region’s valleys and mountains. A few gusts could reach the 50 to 65 mph range, especially in the Alpine area.

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State Board Again Delays Vote On Contentious River Plan

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Bettina Boxall

Under pressure from Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, state regulators once again postponed a vote on a contentious plan to force San Francisco and several big San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts to give up some of their water supplies for environmental protection. On the eve of Wednesday’s scheduled vote, Brown and the man who will succeed him next year, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, asked for a month’s delay and promised to get involved in ongoing settlement negotiations.

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San Diego Unified Likely To Tackle Lead In Drinking Water And Security Upgrades With New Bond Money This Summer

/in , /by /The San Diego Union-Tribuneby Kristen Taketa

Voters delivered a solid endorsement of the San Diego Unified School District on Tuesday when they approved a $3.5 billion bond measure for the school system, the district’s largest ever bond measure and the third approved since 2008. About 62 percent of voters said yes to Measure YY, despite critical media coverage of the measure, opposition from watchdog groups and residents and “no” endorsements from multiple organizations, including the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, which only disapproved of one other school bond measure on Tuesday’s ballot.

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$9 Billion California Water Bond Trailing In Early Returns

/in , /by /The Associated Pressby Don Thompson

Californians were leaning against borrowing $9 billion for water projects Tuesday in a state where water scarcity often pits city dwellers, farmers, anglers and environmentalists against one another. About 53 percent of voters opposed Proposition 3 with about 3.6 million votes counted. The bond measure devoted money to storage and dam repairs, watershed and fisheries improvements, and habitat protection and restoration. Much of the $8.9 billion was earmarked for conservancies and state parks to restore and protect watersheds, and to nonprofits and local agencies for river parkways.

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Brown, Newsom Send State Water Board Letter Requesting To Delay Wednesday’s Vote

/in , /by /The Modesto Beeby Ken Carlson and Mike Dunbar

Those who depend on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers for agriculture and drinking water may have received a reprieve Tuesday night. The State Water Resources Control Board was set to adopt a proposal to double the amount of water allowed to flow unimpeded down the rivers and out to the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta on Wednesday. Instead, the board received a written request from Gov. Jerry Brown’s office and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom to postpone the vote until Dec. 12.

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Trial Date Set For Oroville Dam Lawsuits Against DWR

/in , /by /Chico Enterprise-Recordby Risa Johnson

A trial date has been set to hear several lawsuits against the state Department of Water Resources over the Oroville Dam crisis. The court scheduled the trial for June 1, 2020 during the second case management conference Friday in the Sacramento County Superior Court. Nearly all cases against DWR over the spillway crisis are being considered together through what is called a coordinated proceeding. A few new parties have been added to the proceeding since the last conference, including PG&E, Butte County and Mary’s Gone Crackers with Richard Wilbur Ranch, Inc.

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