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President Biden will be back in the Golden State today following weeks of historic storms and record rainfall. Before last weekend’s storms, it was estimated that 24 trillion gallons of water had already fallen across the state. The surge of rain should now put an end to the state’s three-year long crippling drought, right? Wrong.
Because of Democrat incompetence, too much of this desperately-needed water is being swept out into the Pacific Ocean instead of being stored for future dry seasons.
- Mercury News: “94% of the water that has flowed since New Year’s Eve through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a linchpin of California’s water system, has continued straight to the Pacific Ocean instead of being captured and stored in the state’s reservoirs.”
- LA Times: Of an estimated 5 billion to 10 billion gallons pouring into the Los Angeles Basin from current storms, only about 20% will be captured by the county … ‘Water is the most precious resource we have, something that we cannot live without, and yet we do everything we can, when it comes to rain, to get rid of it as soon as possible.’”
- New York Times: “In a Drought, California Is Watching Water Wash Out to Sea”
Will Biden take the opportunity today to address the state’s grossly inadequate water storage infrastructure that’s harming California farmers, residents and communities?
Republicans continue to sound the alarm about insufficient water storage in California. Congressman David Valadao, supported by every California House Republican, recently re-introduced legislation dedicated to “streamlining operations, expanding water storage infrastructure, and increasing accountability.” Legislative Republicans continue to push Governor Newsom to adequately and quickly fund water storage projects. Democrats don’t seem to be interested.
In 2014, California voters approved billions of dollars for new water storage. As of today, not one inch of it has been built. Federal and state red tape continue to drag out an approval process for new storage that Californians both support and desperately need. On top of that, Newsom had no new funding for water storage in his recently-introduced state budget.
“California farmers’ fields have gone fallow while California residents have been told to ration water use because Democrats refuse to prioritize water storage. Now despite historic rainfall, we’re forced to watch precious gallons of water wash out to the ocean. While President Biden and Governor Newsom are together today, they should explain to Californians why they insist on wasting a resource that’s so desperately needed across the state,” stated CAGOP Chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson.
