A major fire near Los Angeles. (Photo: Brian C. Weed, via Shutterstock)OPINION: Floods, mudslides, multi-year drought and massive, destructive wildland fires are only some of the extreme climate-related disasters California and its local communities face. If you live in California, the odds are that you are living in a danger zone.
The dry bed of Ivanpah Lake in San Barnardino County, which had been filled by the 2004-05 rains. (Photo: Ed Berlen)The governor, up for reelection in November, announced the plan on his campaign web site in an open letter to voters. If approved by lawmakers, it would replace the $11.14 billion water bond scheduled to go before voters in November. That bond, delayed for years, was approved in a bipartisan vote in the Legizslature and signed by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
An aerial view of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.The ink was barely dry on the governor’s budget before new legislation emerged in the Legislature to rewrite a multibillion-dollar water bond on the November ballot. Sen. Lois Wolk introduced SB 848 on Jan. 9, which would ask voters for permission to borrow some $6.475 billion for an array of water projects. Two days earlier, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, offered amendments to his $6.5 billion water bond, AB 1331. (Above: Aerial view of the Delta. Photo: worldislandinfo.com),
But even as the rain clouds appear sparse, there may be a silver lining for the backers of a major ballot measure: Experts say the grim outlook could spur voters to approve a multibillion-dollar bond facing voters in November 2014. It could bring to reality the need to borrow money and resolve some of the state’s water issues. (Photo: Lower American River, USFWS)