Prop 3 is good for you and me

The passage of Proposition 3, the Water Supply and Water Quality Act, is a vital investment for San Joaquin Valley cities, farmers and disadvantaged communities. This comprehensive Proposition supported by broad and diverse groups will significantly help our State and our San Joaquin Valley address critical water issues.

Proposition 3 provides $750 million to restore and increase the capacity of the Friant-kern Canal. This will result in greater groundwater recharge, greater conveyance and utilization of floodwaters. Our local farms and our agricultural economy is what it is today largely because of the availability of water brought to our Valley by this canal. Many of the residents of our rural cities, such as Farmersville and Porterville along with surrounding communities, are employed in agriculture and supporting industries. For over the past half century the economy that sustains workers’ families has been built based on the availability of water supplied by this important structure. Proposition 3 will support these working families who depend on a reliable water supply for jobs, food, and building thriving communities.

Proposition 3 also includes $675 million to implement the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), a law that aims to improve groundwater management to ensure groundwater is a reliable source that is available for future generations. This funding will go a long way in developing more recharge facilities to stabilize groundwater levels in our critically over drafted groundwater basins. According to Exeter area farmer Chris Tantau, “We finally have a California Water Bond that brings back direct benefit to the San Joaquin Valley. Prop 3 will provide monies to fix the subsidence on the Friant-kern Canal. Proposition 3 funding is critical to Fresno, Tulare and Kern Counties to implement needed SGMA projects. This is a bond I can stand behind.”perhaps most critically, Proposition 3 will make a huge impact in resolving many of our Valley’s rural disadvantaged communities’ water supply and quality issues. Nitrate, arsenic and uranium are common along with other man-made and naturally occurring contaminants in our Valley aquifers. Drinking water delivered by small water systems and private domestic wells is contaminated by many of these contaminants. Volunteers who keep small water systems going, like RS Mutual Water Company Board President Jo Ann Moore in the Kern County Wofford Heights area, encounter many challenges. As Ms. Moore states, “For over ten years we have had to drink bottled water due to uranium and arsenic contamination in our system’s only well. We don’t have the funds to consolidate with a nearby system, so Proposition 3 funding is key to resolving this long standing problem.” Proposition 3 will provide $750 million for water and wastewater projects throughout the state. We anticipate that many vulnerable communities in our region will qualify for these funds.

Proposition 3 will provide $50 million to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to reduce the threat of wildfires that would impact watersheds the San Joaquin Valley depends on by clearing out dead trees and brush and rehabilitating forest land where wildfires had burned. An additional $200 million would be appropriated to the Conservancy for the protection, restoration and improvement of Sierra Nevada watersheds and thus helping protect the primary source of our Valley’s water supply.

To sum it up, Porterville City Manager states, “The Porterville City Council has taken a position of support for Proposition 3 to fund needed repairs on the Friant-kern Canal south of Porterville. The Council also supports the Proposition’s funding of wastewater recycling and water conservation projects that can benefit cities like Porterville. Our City has stepped up to support disadvantaged community water issues by serving East Porterville - the single largest water consolidation project in the history of California. Passage of Proposition 3 is key to the success of such future water projects in our State.”

Overall, Proposition 3 will help ensure the long-term reliability of water resources for us all, help with drought contingency planning, and provide clean safe drinking water for many disadvantaged community residents in the Valley.

More information about Proposition 3 is available at https://waterbond.org/.

I urge you to vote Yes on Proposition 3.