California Republicans renew call for quicker movement on water storage projects

Republicans in California’s Assembly used a break in the storms Thursday to condemn Democrats for the drought-stricken state’s inability to capture more of the rainfall that has inundated it in recent weeks.

“It’s a failure of leadership,” Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Nicolaus, said during a press conference near the American River in Sacramento. “The Democratic supermajority and the governor have failed to make investments in water infrastructure.”

Gallagher, the Republican Leader, was joined by 10 of his Assembly colleagues on a rare sunny day so far in 2023. They pleaded with Gov. Gavin Newsom to expedite pending water storage projects.

Voters in 2014 approved a measure that set aside $2.7 billion to support new water storage. None of the projects that have received money are under construction.

“Where is the water storage that the voters approved?” said Assemblywoman Diane Dixon, R-Newport Beach.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, authored the 2014 measure. In an emailed statement, he said the state supports the projects, but does not construct them.

Applications for the money weren’t due until August 2017. The California Water Commission, the following year, approved funding for eight applicants, out of 12 total, but one later dropped out.

Picking the winners required “a very laborious selection process,” Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot told The Sacramento Bee in 2021.

The projects are still waiting on permit approvals and the governor has not done enough to push them along, Gallagher said Thursday.

“These projects have been tied up in the bureaucracy of executive agencies.”

Erin Mellon, Newsom’s communications director, said in an emailed statement that the governor had allocated billions to accelerate water projects and modernize the state’s water infrastructure.

“The state is funding various projects across California to store flood flows into groundwater recharge projects and stormwater capture infrastructure in urban areas,” Mellon added, “and is reducing permitting barriers to get this work done more quickly.”

Construction on two of the jobs using funds from the 2014 measure could begin as soon as this year, including one that would store and manage groundwater in Sacramento County. Work on the Sites Reservoir, about 60 miles northwest of Sacramento, is set to begin next year and take at least five years to complete, according to the California Water Commission. It is located in Gallagher’s district.

Mellon said the governor has pushed to advance the project. Republican legislators aren’t convinced he is doing enough.

“This governor has the ability to do big things,” said Assemblyman Heath Flora, R-Ripon. “Right now, there’s a way, we just need the will.”

Flora’s district includes Wilton, southeast of Sacramento, where residents were ordered to evacuate twice in two weeks because of the threat of flooding on the Cosumnes River.

Sacramento County lifted the area’s most recent order on Tuesday.

That morning, Newsom unveiled an almost $300 billion budget proposal for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Gallagher praised the provision setting aside money to help reduce the risk of urban flooding. But he said there was no new funding for water storage.

“Instead of capturing rainfall and harnessing it to grow our crops, and protect our communities from disaster, we are now under water,” said Assemblyman Juan Alanis, R-Modesto. “In the long run, we have to have more water storage whether it’s above ground dams and reservoirs or helping recharge our groundwater.”

Mellon, from the Governor’s Office, pointed to aspects of the budget proposal that include supporting efforts related to the drought, finding new water supplies and replenishing groundwater.