As California’s traditional season for rain and snow began last fall, meteorologists and hydrologists predicted that the state would probably experience a second year of heavy precipitation.
It’s gone by several names: Peripheral Canal, Water Fix and Delta Conveyance.
Its design has changed several times, from a canal to twin tunnels and most recently a single tunnel.
However, its purpose has been unchanged for seven decades – bypassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as water is moved from Northern California to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California homes.
On Tuesday, June 27, the California Legislature passed the 2023/24 state budget, which included critical investments in projects around the Imperial Valley.
According to a press release from the Office of Sen. Steve Padilla, Senator Padilla, whose district includes all of Imperial County, worked with legislative leaders to secure these investments in the Valley’s future. These projects will spur new investments in lithium separation and battery production, pave roads to help residents to travel around rural communities safely, improve water quality in heavy agricultural-use regions of the state, and assist communities delivering humanitarian aid to asylum seekers, according to the release.
California lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom agreed on a $310.8 billion budget deal Monday, a compromise reached by dropping the governor’s proposal to move forward with a 45-mile Delta water tunnel that would pump water from the Sacramento River to other parts of the state.
Legislators released a series of bills Saturday and Sunday showing the broad outlines of a spending plan that includes more money for public transit, child care, prison reform and Medi-Cal. The measures also reflected the challenges of closing the state’s estimated $31.5 billion budget gap.
While Gavin Newsom has tried to shoehorn in the Delta tunnel, state lawmakers have been adamant about not including the project in the state budget. With the July 27 deadline looming to agree to a finalized budget for California, state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom appear to still be split on the controversial Delta tunnel.
Gov. Gavin Newsom called for $22.5 billion in state spending to combate climate change next year, offering a suite of solutions that mirror climate action and decarbonization efforts now underway in San Diego.
In a presentation Monday on his proposed budget for fiscal year 2022-23, Newsom announced a projected surplus of $45.7 billion and unveiled his proposals to use the windfall to combat COVID-19, climate change, homelessness, high costs of living and crime.
Governor Gavin Newsom has released his 2022-23 state budget proposal, the California Blueprint. The $213 billion budget includes significant investment for addressing coronavirus, wildfires, homelessness, and drought. California is currently experiencing a $45.7 billion surplus heading into the next fiscal year. Building on the $5.2 billion dollar investment in water issues last year, the budget proposal includes an additional $750 million investment to address the ongoing drought.
On Monday, the State Department of Water Resources allocated $39.2 million to the repairs of the Friant-Kern Canal.
The $39.2 million is part of $100 million that was included in this year’s state budget for the repairs of four of the state’s major water resources: the California Aqueduct, the San Luis Canal, the Delta-Mendota Canal and the Friant-Kern Canal. A total of $37 million was allocated to both the California Aqueduct and San Luis Canal and $23.8 million was allocated to the Delta-Mendota Canal.
California lawmakers on Thursday voted to spend more than $2 billion to prevent wildfires and address a severe drought, closing the book — for now — on a $262.5 billion operating budget that began the year with a record deficit because of the pandemic and ended with a record surplus in spite of it.
The Imperial Irrigation District is celebrating California’s new state budget. In spite of coronavirus-caused spending cuts, it will get the funding it needs for two important environmental projects.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
