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There’s been a lot of talk about drought recently across Arizona and the West – especially with the relatively dry winter we’ve been having. But my next guest wishes we didn’t use the “d” word as much as we do. Tom Philp is strategic communications and policy adviser for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and he’s written about how we may need a new lexicon to talk about our current water situation. Philp joins me.

The Bay Area has experienced February dry spells before, including twice from 2013 to 2016 during California’s historic drought when rainfall totals were drastically below the monthly average. But this February could close with a distinction most in the Bay Area would like to avoid. This could become the first February in more than 150 years with no rainfall. The only major Bay Area city to go the entire month of February without rain is San Francisco in 1864. San Francisco has the longest set of weather data in the Bay Area, going back to 1850.

In 2014, I asked you to support Proposition 1, $7.5 billion water bond written during one of the worst droughts in the state’s modern history. It certainly wasn’t perfect. I would have preferred significantly more than the $2.7 billion it provided for water storage, while others would have eliminated water storage funding entirely. But Prop 1 was a product of compromise and negotiation – something we need a lot more of in today’s political climate. In typical Sacramento fashion, we had ignored a problem until it became so large that we could not possibly ignore it anymore.

The failure of the spillway wasn’t just a scary experience for Oroville, but also a costly one for a city that was already struggling financially. Right now, costs are up by millions of dollars, but it’s crucial to repair the dam which provides water for more than 25 million Californians. Kiewit construction crews continue to be hard at work making repairs on the Oroville Dam Spillway. Construction is being done in two phases, with the first completed in November.

In a dramatic twist on the Delta tunnels saga, Southern California’s powerful water agency is exploring the feasibility of owning the majority stake in the controversial project, a move that raises fears of a “water grab.” Under the plan floated Monday by three board members, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California would pour an extra $6 billion or more into the tunnels plan beyond what it has already pledged, enabling the twin tunnels to get built at the same time.