With no sign of an end to California’s historic drought, Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer introduced the California Emergency Drought Relief Act of 2015 (the “Act”). The bill aims to lessen the impact of the present drought and protect Californians from future droughts by funding desalination, recycled water, and new technologies projects. The also would implement provisions to aid small communities which would not otherwise be able to afford alternative and new technologies.
Key provisions of the bill include:
Assistance for communities suffering from the drought
- Creating a new United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”) program to ensure small towns (less than 10,000 residents) have a stable source of water through short-term solutions (bottled water deliveries) and long-term solutions (water treatment systems)
- Prioritizing State Revolving Funds for most at risk communities in order to provide water for public health and safety and to increase drought resiliency
Desalination
- Target research and grants for desalination plants
- $50 million in funding over five years for feasibility and design for desalination and related projects
Water recycling
- Authorizes $200 million in funding for 105 water recycling projects within the State
Research and innovation
- Authorizes $35 million in grants for technological innovations in areas such as water metering, well-monitoring, on-site recycling and storm water capture
Storage projects
- Establishes deadlines for the Bureau of Reclamation to complete feasibility studies to allow Calfed storage projects to compete for Proposition 1 bond funds
- Authorizes $600 million for Calfed water storage projects, which may include both federal and non-federal projects
- Updates Army Corps dam operations to increase water supply while reducing flood risk
Conservation and groundwater recharge
- Allows water users to pay irrigators to install drip irrigation or other technologies to conserve water
- Authorizes an EPA program to label water-efficient products for consumers
- Requires California military installations to implement water conservation projects
- Authorizes Department of the Interior to share data on water quality, climate and weather effects, as well as erosion
Additional funding programs
- Loan guarantees: Authorizes $200 million for the Reclamation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (RIFIA). This loan-guarantee program will allow water districts and municipalities to reduce repayment loan costs by as much as 25 percent
- WaterSMART: Authorizes $100 million in increased funds for the Bureau of Reclamation’s WaterSMART program to help finance water reclamation and reuse projects as well as water efficiency initiatives
- Bureau of Reclamation funds: Additional long-term funding of $150 million per year beginning in fiscal year 2026 for storage, water recycling and desalination projects
Protecting endangered and threatened fish and wildlife
Establishes short-term proposals to protect and assist recovery of fish populations including salmon and smelt.
The Feinstein/Boxer bill is specifically aimed at helping small communities hit the hardest by the drought. It is aimed at ensuring water continues to flow to these communities while still protecting agro business. Importantly, the bill is also aimed at developing new and innovative water conservation and re-use technologies. The bill is advancing through the U.S. Senate, though its passage is not assured. If the bill does become law, it would likely be effective in mid to late 2016.
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