A sweeping measure to provide $4.1 billion in new funding for California parks and water projects was passed by the California Senate in the final hours of this year’s legislative session. The bill was then brought to Governor Jerry Brown who signed it in mid-October. It’s now up to the voters to decide Senate Bill 5’s fate, which will appear on a June 2018 ballot. We are thrilled that the Legislature took action to protect and restore California’s state and local parks; coastal, forest, and other natural resources; and water quality and supply.
If passed, Senate Bill (SB) 5, the California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection, and Outdoor Access For All Act of 2018, will fund projects ranging from building Bay Area hiking trails to expanding Lake Tahoe beaches to constructing new inner city parks in Los Angeles. SB 5 is the first statewide parks and water bond to appear on a state ballot in 12 years, since Proposition 84 in 2006, which won approval of 54 percent of voters and provided $5.4 billion.
Overall, $2.83 billion would go to parks, and $1.27 billion to water projects, including flood protection, levee upgrades on rivers and in the Delta, water recycling, and groundwater pollution cleanups. No money in the bond would fund new dams or Brown’s proposed Delta tunnels.
A committee has been formed to support the bill passing, and CalTrout remains an active supporter as it heads toward the vote next summer.
For updates on this and other legislation that CalTrout is currently following, check out the Fall 2017 issue of the Current:
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