California Briefs: State Boosts Water Supplies, Resilience and Aerospace Expansion Bill Signed

State Progress Boosts Water Supplies and Builds Resilience Amid Extreme Weather

SACRAMENTO — Amid extreme weather conditions this past year, the state has made progress to secure water supplies now and into the future, leveraging more than $8.6 billion committed by Gov. Newsom and the Legislature in the last two budget cycles to build water resilience.

A new progress report on California’s Water Supply Strategy, which was released last year, details key actions taken by state agencies to expand and expedite water storage, recycling, desalination and conservation to bolster water supplies throughout the state.

The Water Supply Strategy priorities complement the state’s Water Resilience Portfolio, a broader policy roadmap (https://tinyurl.com/Building-Water-Resilience) developed in 2020 to ensure the state’s long-term water resilience and ecosystem health through a diverse set of actions. 

A new progress report on the portfolio’s four broad approaches – maintaining and diversifying water supplies, protecting and enhancing natural systems, building connections, and preparedness – can be found here.

Highlights from the one-year Water Supply Strategy progress report include:

Expanding Water Storage Capacity: Maximizing groundwater recharge; Advancing Proposition 1 storage projects; Rehabilitating dams.

Reducing Demand: Stabilizing groundwater supplies; Making conservation a way of life; Improving Forecasting, Data and Water Management; Overhauling of the state’s water rights data management system.

Developing New Water Supplies; Expanding desalination.

Senator Roth’s Bill to Incentivize Aerospace Expansion Signed by Governor

SACRAMENTO — A bill to incentivize the aerospace industry to locate, stay and expand in California, by Sen. Richard D. Roth (D-Riverside), has been signed by the Governor.

Amidst the evolving aerospace resurgence, SB 419 emerges as a beacon of progressive economic strategy. Acknowledging the historical significance of the aerospace industry in shaping California’s illustrious past, Roth’s legislation acknowledges the sector’s newfound vitality catalyzed by the private space sector. This momentum, which now propels the economy and provides gainful employment to multitudes, necessitates vigilant efforts to ensure California’s competitive edge in the face of inter-state competition.

Senator Roth’s legislation extends the 2014 property tax exemption for space exploration, an initiative pioneered by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), for an additional five years. Roth’s legislation encompasses more than mere extension – it introduces transparency and accountability. A key component of the legislation includes commissioning a comprehensive study by the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office. This study, slated for completion by Jan. 1, 2028, encompasses a multifaceted evaluation of the exemption’s impact, including the quantification of changes in the space flight industry’s employment landscape, the transformation of employee compensation, and the augmentation of investment within California’s space flight infrastructure.