The magnitude of California's drought is still uncertain, but it’s going to be costly.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation committing $5.2 billion over the next three years toward water infrastructure and drought resilience.
"As we all know, drought is part of California's natural environment but is now super-charged by accelerating climate change," California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said in a press conference with state leaders on Thursday.
The legislation will fund emergency drought relief projects, as well as support for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure in small and disadvantaged communities, among other initiatives.
The state has never before spent this much money on drought efforts, but it paves the way for water security for all Californians as they already feel the effects of climate change.
"Record-high temperature both this winter and spring meant about an 80% reduction in the amount of snow and water that flows into our reservoir," Crowfoot explained.
In July, Newsom asked Californians to voluntarily cut back on their water usage by 15%, but he stopped shy of declaring a statewide water emergency and mandating the whole state to do so.
Crowfoot reiterated that plea on Thursday, noting that some hard-hit areas – like the Russian River – were meeting that goal. Most areas haven’t gone far enough, though.
"But overall the state water usage was only down about 2% in communities," Crowfoot said of water reductions since July. "So, there is obviously a lot of important work to do there."
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