California's 'Emergency' Drought Relief Funding Unspent

"It’s been four months since Governor Jerry Brown signed what he and Democratic lawmakers called 'emergency drought legislation.' It promised nearly $700 million in immediate drought relief. But nearly 90 percent of that money has yet to be spent," reports Ben Adler.

"The Brown administration says $200 million in competitive grants for water projects will be awarded in September – with $250 million more in a second round next spring."

Adler's article also quotes Celeste Cantu, with the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, who makes two points as an applicant for that grant money. The first: that she’s "grateful the governor and legislature are making the money available as soon as September – normally, she says, 'I think it’s like a year, year-and-a-half.' The second is that "there’s nothing the governor and legislature could have done this year to reduce the water shortage. 'The water challenges that we face in California today – and probably the rest of the 21st century – can never be responded to in an emergency fashion…'"