California's latest response to drought: still not taking the crisis seriously

"We are not seeing the level of stepping up and ringing the alarm bells that the situation warrants," said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the State Water Resources Control Board.

Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) ... said the new legislation would not be the last drought-relief proposal from the Capitol. “This is just a down payment on our efforts to address the drought," he said. "This is just the first round."

$1 billion in California drought relief may just be the beginning
By Chris Megerian and Melanie Mason

The Los Angeles Times

March 19, 2015, 1:30 PM

Governor Jerry Brown and top lawmakers from both parties announced Thursday a $1-billion plan to deal with California's persistent drought, describing the legislation as a mix of short-term relief and support for long-term water projects.
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The bulk of the legislation would fund infrastructure initiatives that might not be completed for years. The proposal includes $272.7 million from the $7.5-billion water bond approved by voters last year for projects such as water recycling and desalination.
An additional $660 million would go to flood-control projects, funded with a bond measure approved by voters a decade ago and scheduled to expire next year.

Asked how spending money on flood prevention would help the drought, the governor warned of "extreme weather events" caused by climate change.

"And with extreme weather events, you get drought. And then all of a sudden, when you’re all focused on drought, you can get massive storms that flood through these channels and overflow and cause havoc," he said.
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