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Government Spending on Stormwater Management in California

Stormwater infrastructure in cities is highly visible and serves to mitigate flooding and reduce pollution that reaches local waterbodies. Being so visible, it might be reasonable to assume that stormwater is adequately funded both in infrastructure and water quality management. Yet, stormwater infrastructure and water quality improvement are notoriously difficult to fund. Paying for stormwater quality improvements in California has been a multi-decade challenge due to the industry’s relatively recent emergence during a time of fiscal constraints on local governments.

San Diego Exploring 2022 Ballot Measure to Pay for Growing Flood-Prevention, Stormwater Needs

San Diegans may face new taxes or fee increases to upgrade the city’s increasingly unreliable flood-prevention infrastructure, which needs an estimated $1.5 billion in repairs and modernization efforts during the next five years.

City officials announced this week they are exploring a possible November 2022 ballot measure that would boost funding for flood prevention with either new parcel taxes, property-related fees, special assessment taxes or other options.