CA Governmental Ineptitude On Prop 1 

Californians passed Proposition 1 in 2014, a initiative to build many more water storage reservoirs in the state to fight fires and bring down the cost of growing food for citizens. The initiative’s public benefits fell into five categories: water quality improvement, flood control, emergency response, recreation, and ecosystem improvement.

Time went by. The State government did studies. Red tape and politics stalled any action. 

By January 1, 2022, EIGHT YEARS after passing, all project proponents still had not completed feasibility studies, but only released draft versions of their environmental documents for public review, or provided documentation of commitments for at least 75 percent of the non-public benefit funding to have the Commission find that their project was potentially feasible. Seven of the projects came before the Commission in 2021. All were found feasible and remained eligible to continue in the program. Still, no action began. None. 

The Newsom Administration did nothing to push forward the water storage reservoir construction. Time and awful inflation have now caused the monies to be far less useful and to have less value in the reservoir construction so badly needed in CA. By delaying, California’s state government wasted the value of the appropriated monies to store water so needed by the state’s residents. 

Of seven projects moved forward, none have been started or built. The sheer overburden of regulations and bureaucracy have stopped any fire prevention water storage for now TEN years. Not a single additional reservoir has been built. The billions set aside by initiative cannot even come close to building half of the hoped for reservoirs in the present day. 

CA administration malfeasance and destructive bureaucracy, coupled with inept political leadership under Newsom and in LA, Bass, have contributed to LA residents having no water to fight the wind driven fires. 

So Californians don’t have enough water storage to fight fires across the state. Add to that the fact Newsom and LA’s Bass have cut over $120M dollars from fire fighters in the state in just 2024, and one can see the massive state government malfeasance that helped contribute to the perfect storm destroying thousands of homes and taking so many lives.