International Operating Engineer - Fall 2015

Politics & Legislation
Legislative Action to Battle California Drought Puts
Operating Engineers on the Front Lines
OVER THE PAST four years,
California has experienced one of
the worst droughts in state history.
Reservoirs across the state are severely
depleted, holding only 54% of their
historical average. The Sierra Nevada
snowpack contains just 5% of the
normal water content, obliterating
the previous record low of 25% water
content. Snowpack is critical because
when it melts, it refills the reservoirs
during the hot summer months.
According to the California Climate
Tracker, 2015 saw the highest average
temperatures in 120 years of recordkeeping.
These warmer temperatures
have only intensified the effects of the
drought and led to the most destructive
wildfires in California history, burning
over 800,000 acres this calendar year.
Researchers have estimated that the
total drought related economic loss to
state agriculture is about $2.7 billion.
Governor Jerry Brown’s
administration has worked closely
with the state legislature to implement
new regulations and pass legislation
to deal with the drought. Several of
these proposals invest heavily in water
related infrastructure projects and will
require thousands of skilled Operating
Engineers to complete the work.
• The state has committed more
than $870 million in drought relief
since last year to assist droughtaffected
communities and provide
funding to better utilize local water
supplies.
• Senate Bills 103 and 104 provide
$687.4 million to support drought
relief. The legislation includes
$549 million from the accelerated
expenditure of voter-approved
bonds, Proposition 84 and
Proposition 1E, in the form of
infrastructure grants for local and
regional projects that are already
planned or partially completed.
• Assembly Bills 91 and 92 fasttracked
more than $1 billion in
funding for drought relief and
critical water infrastructure
projects (e.g. water recycling
and infrastructure and flood
protection).
• Proposition 1, California’s $7.5
billion water bond: includes
funding for surface and
groundwater storage, ecosystem
and watershed protections and
restoration, and drinking water
protection.
• The Bay Delta Conservation Plan,
which the Governor introduced
and is currently pending, is a
five-year project that would fix
California’s primary water delivery
system at an estimated cost of $14.9
Emergency drought barrier construction nears completion on
West False River in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
[photo] CA Department of Water Resources
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billion. This project alone would
create over 40,000 construction
jobs.
Governor Brown was also successful
in securing nearly $20 million in
federal drought relief for California’s
Central Valley Project through the U.S.
Department of the Interior.
To combat the drought at the
federal level, California Senators Diane
Feinstein (D) and Barbara Boxer (D),
introduced The California Emergency
Drought Relief Act (S.1894). Some of
the key elements of this legislation are:
• The RIFIA loan program:
Authorizes $200 million for
the Reclamation Infrastructure
Finance and Innovation Act
(RIFIA). This loan-guarantee
program will allow water districts
and municipalities to leverage
loans and loan guarantees
for water projects, reducing
repayment loan costs by as much
as 25 percent. This is modeled after
TIFIA, a successful loan-guarantee
program for transportation
projects.
• WaterSMART grant improvements:
Authorizes $100 million in
increased funds for the Bureau
of Reclamation’s WaterSMART
program to help finance water
reclamation and reuse projects as
well as water efficiency initiatives.
• Title XVI water recycling program
reforms: Authorizes $200 million
in increased funds for the Bureau
of Reclamation’s water recycling
and reuse program (Title XVI) to
help fund projects to reclaim and
reuse wastewaters and naturally
impaired ground and surface
water.
This legislation is currently being
considered at the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, chaired
by Alaskan Senator Lisa Murkowski.
In the U.S. House of Representatives,
California Congressman David
Valadao (R-21) introduced the Western
Water and American Food Security Act
of 2015 (H.R. 2898). This legislation
passed the House on July 16th by a vote
of 245 – 176, and is also currently being
considered in the Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee.
Congressman Jared Huffman,
representing California’s second
congressional district, has also
introduced legislation - H.R. 2983,
Drought Recovery and Resilience Act
of 2015. This bill has not yet been voted
out of committee.
These various state and federal
initiatives will create tens of thousands
of construction jobs and the Operating
Engineers will be on the front lines
building these water infrastructure
projects and playing a vital role in
helping Californians survive this and
future droughts.
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INTERNATIONAL OPERATING ENGINEER
FALL 2015 11