Audubon California endorses Prop. 3

Citing the measure’s broad funding for clean drinking water and conservation priorities in California, Audubon California today announced its support for Proposition 3, an $8.9 billion water bond measure on the November ballot.

“This measure addresses some of California’s most pressing  water needs, including needed funding to insure access to  clean drinking water in every community,” said Sarah Rose, executive director of Audubon California. “This will also provide hundreds of millions of dollars to benefit birds and their habitats across the state – on farms, on our coasts, in our mountains, at the Salton Sea, and beyond.”

Much of the funding from Proposition 3 will be directed to improve access to clean drinking water, and investments in water infrastructure, with an emphasis on spending in disadvantaged communities. This includes $750 million specifically to improve water quality and help provide clean, safe, and reliable drinking water for all Californians, and more than $4 billion more on infrastructure and other projects that will also improve drinking water quality.

Below are just a few of the conservation allocations contained in Proposition 3:

• $640 million for implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
• More than $300 million to benefit wildlife in the Central Valley, including $50 million to incentivize creation of habitat on private land,
• $280 million to the Wildlife Conservation Board,
• $135 million to the Coastal Conservancy,
• $295 million for conservancies in Southern California,
• $300 million for work in the San Francisco Bay Area, and
• $200 million for the Salton Sea.

 “This measure will help provide clean drinking water to everyone in California, which is an essential human right that we are long overdue in providing,” added Rose. “It also provides funding that has been missing from the State’s budget for programs to protect California’s biodiversity in the face of climate change, drought and fires, and increasing challenges on natural and working lands across the state.”