During his State of the State address Wednesday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced that water infrastructure will remain an administrative priority in the 2007-08 CaliforniaCalifornia has reliable water supplies, storage and conveyance.  The Administration has proposed $5.95 billion ($3.95 general obligation bonds and $2 billion revenue bonds) to fund additional water infrastructure investments through 2016. 

"With California's booming population, and with the impact that global warming will cause to our snow packs, we need more infrastructure, a wide-ranging water storage and delivery system, including above-ground facilities," said Governor Schwarzenegger.  "This funding is critical to upgrade our water infrastructure so the next generation of Californians is not faced with a shortage of this precious resource.  We need a modern, comprehensive approach to addressing our growing water needs that includes storage, conveyance and conservation."

The Governor’s proposal would authorize the sale of bonds to be allocated as follows:

$4.5 billion ($2.5 billion general obligation bonds and $2.0 billion revenue bonds) for additional water storage including construction of Temperance Flat Reservoir located upstream of Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River and Sites Reservoir in Colusa and Glenn counties.  $500 million of these funds would also be dedicated for grants to augment local investment in groundwater storage projects. legislative session.  In his 2007-08 proposed budget, the Governor states that two critical areas remain unaddressed in ensuring

$1 billion general obligation bonds to implement a sustainable resource management plan in the Delta

$250 million general obligation bonds for water resource stewardship projects such as Salton Sea and San Joaquin River restoration projects

$200 million general obligation bonds for targeted water conservation grants to local communities that coordinate their planning of shared water resources

For more information, contact WG's Erin Field (efield@wga.com) at (916) 446-1435.