California lawmakers, water agencies, environmentalists back $300M levee plan

California legislators on Tuesday voiced their support for Senate Bill 872 — a bill aimed at reinforcing Delta levees and the State Water Project by directing $300 million annually to the state’s water infrastructure upgrades and repairs. 

The news conference followed the introduction of the bill last month by Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, who on Tuesday emphasized the urgency of addressing California’s aging levees.

“Northern and Southern California folks, we’re used to fighting over water. But I’m really here to say we all benefit from this,” said Assemblymember John Harabedian, D-Pasadena, who co-authored the bill, while Sen. Bob Archuleta, D-Pico Rivera, compared the unique coalition to the Dodgers and Giants coming together for the love of baseball — except this time, the two regions are uniting for the sake of the state’s water system. 

“No one talks about infrastructure until the levee breaks and the levees are failing. So we need to do this. It’s a good investment,” Harabedian continued.

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