$4 billion for water & parks on California’s June ballot

October 2, 2017

Around midnight on September 15, just before adjourning for the year, the California Legislature voted to place a $4 billion parks and water bond on the June 2018 primary election ballot. Governor Jerry Brown has indicated he plans to sign the bill into law. If the bond is approved by the state’s voters, it would authorize $4 billion of critical investments in California’s natural resources, water supply, and urban parks.

Known as the “California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018,” the bond breaks down roughly into thirds: One third goes to urban park creation and restoration, with a focus on park-poor communities. Another third is focused on water investments: groundwater, flood protection, and safe drinking water. The remainder supports a variety of natural resource investments.

For nearly 25 years, PFT has innovated and advocated for investments in watershed conservation and restoration, and we’re pleased that this bond would be a major infusion of support for these activities:

• $443 million for “Climate Preparedness, Habitat Resiliency, Resource Enhancement, and Innovation” statewide. Most notable for Northern California’s watersheds:
  • $60 million for upper watersheds in the Sierra and Cascades;
  • $60 million for fish passage and barrier removal;
  • $30 million for wildlife corridors;
  • $25 million to restore rivers and streams;
  • $30 million to improve conditions for fish and wildlife, such as by acquiring water rights;
• $200 million for voluntary agreements to implement the Bay-Delta Plan, including upstream actions to improve fish passage and water quantity;
• $180 million for regional conservancies, including $30M for the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and $20M to the Coastal Conservancy;
• $137 million to the Wildlife Conservation Board; and
• $110 million to the Coastal Conservancy for protection of beaches, bays, wetlands and coastal watersheds.

(You can find the text of the bond here, and our friends at Conservation Strategy Group wrote a detailed summary of the allocations, available here.)

The bond will require a majority vote in June, where it will share the ballot with the primary election for our next Governor. Pacific Forest Trust will work as part of a broad coalition to let California voters know the importance of these investments in parks, wildlands, watersheds, flood protection, and water supply. Your support will be critical; sign up here for updates from Pacific Forest Trust to find out the latest. If you’re already on our list, consider making a contribution to support our work today.