Joe Del Bosque: State water commission comes to Clovis Oct. 14

As California endures a historic drought, we are all feeling its effects in some way. But in the San Joaquin Valley, the suffering is pronounced. My fellow farmers and I are fallowing fields or dealing with sky-rocketing water costs to keep our crops alive. And our rivers and reservoirs are nearly dry, giving everyone in the Valley a stark reminder that things are bad.

There hasn’t been significant state investment in new water storage in California since the 1970s. So when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 1 last fall, it was a message that we need to be better prepared to deal with future droughts. The passage of Proposition 1 is a promise to make things better. The largest component was the $2.7 billion set aside to fund the public benefits of increased statewide storage. The commission I serve on, the California Water Commission, is the state agency tasked with allocating those funds.

As the commission develops the rules and guidelines that will determine how to divvy up the $2.7 billion, we’ve held seven stakeholder advisory committee meetings and six public meetings. We are holding three more public meetings this month, including a meeting in Clovis on Oct. 14. This is the third time are we visiting the San Joaquin Valley.

We hear from you that help is needed now to address our current drought. I understand your concerns.

This is affecting me, too. But this portion of the bond was intended to respond to and to deal with future droughts. The $2.7 billion is a long-term investment in state infrastructure. Proposition 1 funds can be used only for the public benefits of a project. Those public benefits are ecosystem improvements, water quality improvement, flood control, flood emergency response, and recreation opportunities.

How well a project, or combined projects, can produce those public benefits will determine how much funding they can receive. The state can fund up to 50 percent of the overall costs of a project, and half of the state funding must benefit the ecosystem. The locals are responsible for funding the remaining costs of 50 percent or more.

Combining or integrating projects on a regional level might produce the most new storage and the most public benefits. Through an initial scoping survey earlier this year, we know there are many potential projects here in the San Joaquin Valley, including the well-known Temperance Flat project, and that there are opportunities to leverage other funds by combining projects.

We are on track to meet a December 2016 deadline to create a program and rules for funding projects with the expectation that project solicitation will occur in early 2017 and project selection will take place in late 2018. In the next few months, we will ask potential applicants for concepts papers. The commission is calling upon local agencies to submit detailed, thoughtful and complete concept papers. The commission can only fund a project which has been submitted by a local agency, which makes this participation so critical.

As I said before, and it’s worth stating again, there hasn’t been significant state investment in new water storage in California since the 1970s. We have the opportunity to create a new era of water storage projects. As a commission, we need to be responsible, transparent and thoughtful in how we allocate the funding. And we need local agencies and communities to engage in the process and present us with competitive and beneficial projects. When the next prolonged drought hits our state, we will be better prepared for it.

This story was originally published October 10, 2015 at 5:37 AM with the headline "Joe Del Bosque: State water commission comes to Clovis Oct. 14."