It turns out “emergency drought relief” can take up to two years to distribute. On Wednesday, California regulators awarded the final pieces of the $680 million drought aid package Gov. Jerry Brown and state lawmakers approved in March 2014.
As the harshness of California’s drought first came into focus two years ago, the state’s leadersscrambled to respond. They put together a package that included emergency aid for farmers, farm workers and communities running out of drinking water.
But 80 percent of the money in what the governor called “emergency drought legislation” was for regional water management projects. And it took until now for the state to award the final $230 million to local agencies.
“It takes a frustratingly long period of time for the Department of Water Resources to process funds, to make sure our projects are built,” says Celeste Cantú with the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority in Orange County. Her agency has received more than $100 million in Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) grants.
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