The state Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife will hold a public hearing Wednesday Oct. 30 on a proposed state water bond at Indio City Hall.
The Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act is an $11.14 billion general-obligation bond proposal that would fund California's "aging" water infrastructure, as well as projects and programs to "address the ecosystem and water supply issues in California," according to the Association of California Water Agencies.
About $4 billion would go toward local resources development, another $4 billion for ecosystem restoration and $3 billion for public benefits related to new surface and groundwater storage projects, according to the association.
The bond is part of a legislative package put together in 2009 by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers to meet the state's water challenges. The water bond measure was set to be on the state's 2010 ballot, later moved to the 2012 ballot and then the November 2014 ballot, according to the water agencies association.
The hearing is at 2 p.m. at Indio's City Hall, 100 Civic Center Mall. The committee's chairman, Assemblyman Anthony Rendon, D-Lynwood, and Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez, D-Coachella, will give opening remarks.
The purpose of the hearing is to share information about the proposed bond issue and get testimony from "local opinion leaders about the significance of water bond resources for the region," according to Perez's staff. The hearing will include time for public comments.
Kevin Kelley, general manager of the Imperial Irrigation District; Andy Horne, Imperial County's deputy chief executive officer for natural resources development; Dan Farris, director of operations for the Coachella Valley Water District; and Phil Rosentrater, deputy director of the Riverside County Economic Development Agency, will speak, according to the hearing's agenda.
Reported by City News Service
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