Wednesday, 06/04/2008 Print Version |
Governor Proclaims Drought, Orders Immediate Action to Address Situation
GOVERNOR
SCHWARZENEGGER: Good morning, everybody.
First of all, let me just say thank you very much to Lester Snow, our director
of the Department of Water Resources and Ken Pimlott from CAL FIRE for being
here today with us.
You know, over the last
two years California has suffered from low rainfall, low
snowpack and court-ordered restrictions on pumping from the Delta that supplies
most of the water. March, April and May have been the driest in the record
history. As a result, some of the local governments are rationing water,
developments can't proceed and some agriculture fields sit idle. And on Monday
San Joaquin farmers suffered another blow when
federal officials cut their water supply even
further.
We must recognize the
severity of this crisis that we face, so today I am signing an Executive Order
proclaiming a statewide drought and directing my Department of Water Resources
to take the following actions:
- Facilitate water transfer to respond to emergency storage across the state,
- Provide technical assistance and funding to local agencies for conservation programs,
- Coordinate with federal agencies to identify potential federal funding,
- Examine and implement changes to the State Water Project to help farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.
I stand ready to declare
a State of Emergency if it is needed to protect public health and safety. I also
encourage all Californians to reduce their water usage whenever possible.
Our drought is an urgent
reminder of the immediate need to upgrade California's water infrastructure because,
while we cannot control Mother Nature, what we can control is to prepare
ourselves for future dry years. In 2006, for instance, we had more water than we
knew what to do with, but raging storm water ran off into the ocean without us
capturing it. Shasta and Folsom Reservoirs were forced to release trillions and
trillions of gallons of excess water. Today the same reservoirs are nearly 40
percent below capacity. It's absolutely insane.
That is why for the last
two years, as part of my Strategic Growth Plan, I have proposed a comprehensive
water solution. It includes $3.5 billion in above the ground and below the
ground water storage, including fixing the Delta, a water delivery system and
fixing the Delta's ecosystem.
I think it is very
important also to adopt aggressive conservation strategies. In fact, in February
I sent a letter to Senate leaders pledging to work with them on legislation to
reduce per capita water use by 20 percent.
Now, a drought develops
slowly over a period of time; it's unlike fire or water that is very explosive.
So this is why it's easy for Sacramento to put off dealing with the water
infrastructure. But as we now see, there is no more time to waste, because
nothing is more vital than to protect our economy, protect our environment and
to protect the quality of life.
We must work together to
ensure that California will have safe, reliable and clean drinking water not
only a year or two from now, but 20, 30, 40 years from now. So I hope that the
legislators get the point. Let's get to work and let's get a water
infrastructure package done this year.
Thank you very much and
now let's sign the Executive Order.
QUESTION/ANSWER: Now, if there are any
questions, please feel free to ask. And if there are any detailed questions that
we need, we of course have Lester Snow here and Ken Pimlott from CAL FIRE that
can answer those questions.
Yes,
please.
QUESTION:
Are you still in
favor of new surface storage projects?
GOVERNOR:
I think it is very
important that what we have proposed that we follow through, which is water
storage, above the ground and below the ground water storage, fixing the Delta,
build a water delivery system and also fix the ecosystem and also build regional
reservoirs. But we have to go and get started, because we have been talking
about this now for years.
And it
reminds me a little bit of the levee proposal, when I talked about the levees,
that we need to fix the levees. We need to fix the levees, we need to have bonds
to go and solve that problem. Nothing was done. It was pushed off and it was
pushed off and pushed off until Katrina happened. And then when Katrina happened
and they found out that our levees are more vulnerable than the levees in
New Orleans,
then all of a sudden they said, "Oh, here. Let's put $4.1 billion into this
package and do it."
So I just
hope that they see that we have a serious drought; this is the second year in a
row now. And we don't have enough water for the future for California and it is our
responsibility together, the legislators and the governor, to go and to pass
infrastructure bonds, put it on the ballot this November, pass it so that we can
start building and so we can secure the water for the
future.
QUESTION:
Are you prepared to
bypass the Legislature and go straight to initiative if that's what it
takes?
GOVERNOR:
Well, if that's what
it takes. But let me tell you, I prefer to do the same thing as we have done
successfully in 2006, where we sat down and we negotiated and we worked together
and out came $37 billion of infrastructure. And now we are rebuilding our roads
and we are building extra classrooms, expanding our universities, building
career-tech educational facilities and also fixing our levees.
And now we
just need to go and finish off this thing, because they were just worried then
that it will be too much money. But I think that we see that we need the water
now and I think that this is really -- you know, when you see that we have to do
water rationing statewide and when we see the prices going up -- and it's going
to get worse. And I think that water conservation -- what I propose, 20 percent
by the year 2020 and all of those kinds of things -- I think it's all good, it's
all part of it, conservation. But we need to build water reservoirs, we need to
go and build water storage, above the ground and below the ground water storage,
fix the Delta and do all of those things.
Yes, please.
QUESTION:
Governor, if there's
no time to waste, as you just said, why aren't you taking the larger step to
order mandatory rationing now rather than wait until next year, when we could be
in even deeper trouble?
GOVERNOR:
Well, if I would have
done mandatory rationing now you would have said, why did you do it now and not
next year? So I think that we have a plan. We are very cautious. We want to make
sure that we all work together. I think the important thing and what this does,
what we are announcing here today, is just simply that we are asking
Californians and letting them know that there is a serious drought and that we
have a problem. We want everyone to work together to conserve water.
And also
that our agency, our state agency helps the local agencies and everyone to move
water around if needed. Because I think there are a lot of farmers, like I said
in my speech, there are a lot of farmers that are suffering because of it. There
are businesses right now that are suffering because of it, because we have
businesses that cannot build and that cannot really start their business because
they don't have a source of water.
So I think
that this means that we are really holding back our economic growth. And when we
hold back our economic growth, that means there will be less revenues coming in,
so it's self-inflicted wounds.
And so what
we want to urge the legislators to do is let us get together. We can do those
things simultaneously. I know that this is traditional here, that you do first
one thing and then you do the next thing and then you do the next thing. And now
it's all budget talk. But let's talk about water. Let's also talk about health
care. Let's fix all of those things that need to be fixed, rather than waiting
and waiting and waiting.
Yes, please.
QUESTION:
What do you make of
the Democrats' ongoing resistance, outright opposition, to surface storage? And
are you willing to give up some of that?
GOVERNOR:
Well, this is already
a compromised version that we are talking about here. I mean, I would like much
more storage but I think that what we wanted to do is just to go and look at
what everyone wants. You know, there are a lot of different needs.
And I don't
see water as a political issue. I think that there are Democrats that want to
drink safe and reliable water and there are Republicans that want to drink safe
and reliable water and they want to have a guarantee that they'll have water 20,
30 years from now. So I think it shouldn't be a party issue, it should be a
people's issue and it should be an issue that is facing farmers and business
people. Ordinary people, everybody is suffering when we have no water.
So this is
why I think Democrats and Republicans must get together and solve this problem
once and for all. It is our responsibility to do those things for the people of
California.
They demand it. So why drag?
Yes, please. Oh, yeah, excuse me.
QUESTION:
There are so many
initiatives that are being proposed for the ballot. Particularly in this hard
economic time, do you think voters might not go for this, might not go for
high-speed rail, might not go for some of the other proposals that are out
there, might just balk at all the borrowing?
GOVERNOR:
I think that the
people enjoy participating in the political process. And I think that we have
seen with the infrastructure bonds in 2006 that even though in the beginning the
poll numbers didn't look so good, but then all of a sudden in the end when the
people voted some of those initiatives passed by 80 percent of the votes. So I
think the people of California are interested
in rebuilding California, because they know that the
infrastructure that was built, that we have now -- especially the water
infrastructure -- is for 18 million people but, in the meantime, we are 38
million people. And that's why it is important that we rebuild. And I think the
people will be delighted to vote for those things and vote yes.
QUESTION:
Governor, what would you do to make sure
your heat regulations are fully respected in the fields in order to avoid more
deaths on the fields? It seems that some farmers are not respecting
this.
GOVERNOR:
Well, as you know, I
am a big believer in protecting the workers on the fields and this is why passed
our heat regulations. And that's why we are sending out always people to inspect
the fields and to go to various different farms to make sure that the people are
treated the right way and they have the right amount of water and the right
amount of rest periods and shade areas where they can take some rest and all of
those things. But there are some people that abuse it and this is why sometimes
people die on the fields. And we in this office, we will do everything that we
can to step it up and control those areas even better, because it's inexcusable
that someone that works in the fields and that contributes so much to our
economy -- because let's not forget that agriculture is a huge contributor to
our economy. You know, those people that pick the fruits and the vegetables and
do all this kind of work, that they should get the right working conditions. So
of course we're going to be on top of that.
...
QUESTION:
If the public
doesn't respond to your challenge are you ready, are you prepared to order
rationing next year, or whenever it's important?
GOVERNOR:
When it gets to that
level. You know, as a matter of fact -- where's Lester? You maybe can talk a
little bit about that, at what point do we go to that next level,
please?
DIRECTOR
LESTER SNOW: Sure. As
the Governor has already indicated, the purpose of taking this Executive Order
and this announcement is actually to avoid the very thing that you're bringing
up, where we have to be on statewide rationing, because that means there is
serious environmental and economic harm that has already taken place. So the
idea is to put programs in place now to soften the impact in 2008 and prepare
for a potential third year of drought in 2009. And I think at that point you'll
see local agencies that may need to move to more aggressive rationing.
But in the
final analysis, the Governor has the authority to protect the economy and the
environment of the state of California and those can be exercised. But the
point of the action today is to start putting in place the programs to avoid
that situation in the future.
...
Thank you very much. Thank you.
