You are now in California and the U.S. category.

After more than a century of building levees higher to hold back its rivers, California took another step Friday toward a flood-control policy that aims to give raging rivers more room to spread out instead. The plan, adopted by the flood-control board for the Central Valley, covers a 500-mile swath from Mount Shasta to Bakersfield that includes the state’s two largest rivers and the United States’ richest agricultural region. It emphasizes flood plains, wetlands and river bypasses as well as levees.

After more than a century of building levees higher to hold back its rivers, California took another step Friday toward a flood-control policy that aims to give raging rivers more room to spread out instead. The plan, adopted by the flood-control board for the Central Valley, covers a 500-mile swath from Mount Shasta to Bakersfield that includes the state’s two largest rivers and the United States’ richest agricultural region. It emphasizes flood plains, wetlands and river bypasses as well as levees. The plan is especially important for Stockton, which sits at the bottom of the San Joaquin River watershed.

State lawmakers are considering a tax to help poor rural communities provide safe drinking water. Agricultural and environmental groups are backing the bill—but water companies, not so much. More than a million Californians lack safe drinking water, either due to fertilizer runoff from farms or contaminants like arsenic. The proposal would raise your water bill by around $10 a year. It could be more than $1,000 a year for farmers, says Tim Johnson, CEO of the California Rice Commission, which backs the proposal.

More than a dozen water storage projects are vying for money from the Proposition 1 water bond California voters approved in 2014. The largest request comes from supporters of Sites Reservoir, which would be built about an hour northwest of Sacramento in Colusa County. Mary Wells walks along a dirt road tucked into the valley there. She owns a cattle ranch here. “I’ve been here 47 years I believe, raised my children here. Grandchildren spent a lot of time here. It’s been a wonderful home for us,” says Wells.