California voters have approved a $10-billion bond measure to finance water, clean energy and other environmental projects.
Proposition 4 allocates $3.8 billion for water projects, including those that provide safe drinking water, water recycling projects, groundwater storage and flood control. An additional $1.5 billion would be spent on wildfire protection, and $1.2 billion would go toward protecting the coast from sea level rise.
Other money would be used to create parks, protect wildlife and habitats, fight air pollution, address extreme heat events and fund sustainable agriculture.
“We are inspired and grateful to see voters back the largest climate and natural resources bond in state history,” said Liz Forsburg Pardi, California policy director at the Nature Conservancy. “Voters sent a powerful signal that climate resilience is a priority.”
The bonds, which must be paid back with interest, will cost taxpayers $400 million a year for the next 40 years, or $16 billion, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office in Sacramento.
The measure, titled the Safe Drinking Water, Wildfire Prevention, Drought Preparedness, and Clean Air Bond Act of 2024, was proposed by lawmakers after billions of dollars of planned climate spending was axed from the state budget because of a massive deficit.
The measure was opposed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which estimated that by issuing bonds to pay for the environmental projects, their cost could more than double because of the added interest. The association said it would be more fiscally responsible to fund the projects without taking on debt.
Dozens of environmental groups, labor unions, social justice organizations, water agencies and renewable energy companies, as well as the water recycling industry, have been lobbying for the proposal. They argued the environmental projects are crucial to the state’s future and will help prevent costly disasters such as wildfires and coastal erosion.
