California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
On Thursday, Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in support of the “California Emergency Drought Relief Act.”
“This drought is worse than anything I have seen in my lifetime,” Feinstein told the committee. “And I’m very worried about what it means for the state of California.”
Feinstein explained the severe situation due to the California drought: wells running dry and families in the Central Valley living off bottled water.
“UC Davis reported that California economy will lose an estimated $2.7 billion in 2015, along with 18,600 jobs. That’s on top of the $2.2 billion last year and another 17,000 jobs we lost,” Feinstein said.
According to Feinstein, the “California Emergency Drought Relief Act” that her and Senator Boxer coauthored has two main functions: providing short-term emergency relief and long-term investment.
Feinstein says the bill would:
- Promote water transfers between sellers and buyers.
- Allows Delta Cross-Channel Gates to open to maximum extent.
- Manages Delta turbidity to maximize water supplies while protecting fish.
- Authorizes $600 million for rainwater capture projects.
- Authorizes $50 million to research how to lower the cost of desalination and reduce its environmental impacts.
- Identifies 105 local water-recycling projects that can produce 850,000 acre-feet of water and 26 desalination projects that can produce 330,000 acre-feet of water.
- Authorizes $500 million in grants, loans and loan guarantees to start the 105 water projects and 26 desalination projects.
Senator Feinstein’s full testimony:
