Restore the Delta Urges Legislature to Secure Ballot Placement for Water and Climate Resilience Funding
For Immediate Release:
July 2, 2024
Contact:
Leela Yadav, leela.yadav@sunstonestrategies.org
Sacramento, CA – Over the weekend, the California Legislature released language for a first-of-its-kind, $10 billion Climate Resilience bond. This bond aims to allocate funds to ensure a climate-resilient future. The California State Senate and State Assembly are set to vote on July 3rd to place this measure on the November 5, 2024, ballot.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, emphasized the importance of this bond: “The Climate Resilience bond is a critical step towards protecting our communities from the adverse impacts of climate change. It provides essential funding for flood protection, environmental conservation, and support for disadvantaged communities. This bond represents a comprehensive approach to building a sustainable and resilient future for all Californians. We urge the Assembly and Senate to pass this bond”
The Climate Resilience bond would fund a variety of climate resiliency initiatives and projects, with significant investments targeted at disadvantaged communities. Key allocations include:
- Flood Protection: $150 million to improve existing levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and $150 million to the Flood Control Subventions Program. These funds will help local levee maintaining agencies in the rural Delta rehabilitate and maintain levees, protecting the community from potential flooding exacerbated by climate change
- State Plan of Flood Control: An additional $250 million for the evaluation, repair, rehabilitation, reconstruction, expansion, or replacement of levees, weirs, bypasses, and facilities.
- Transformative Climate Communities Program: $150 million to fund local projects promoting climate resiliency, including in Stockton.
- Wildlife Conservation and Restoration: Additional funding to support wildlife conservation, salmon recovery, and the protection and restoration of wetlands, improving fisheries and wildlife habitats.
The bond includes sufficient safeguards to ensure taxpayer funds are not misused. Importantly, provisions prohibit funds from being used for the Delta Conveyance Project. The Justice 40 Initiative ensures that 40% of funds will benefit disadvantaged communities at the forefront of climate change impacts with an additional 10% of funds allocated to severely disadvantaged communities.
Barrigan-Parrilla added, “The merits of this bond far outweigh its faults. It is imperative that we act now to ensure it gets placed on the ballot for voter approval. This funding is vital for the protection of water, the environment, and the health and safety of our communities.”
Restore the Delta urges all residents to contact their elected representatives in the State Legislature and advocate for the 2024 Climate Resilience bond. It is crucial to remind them that protecting water and the environment is essential for sustaining communities, safeguarding public health, and preserving our natural resources.