SACRAMENTO – SBX2-1 (Perata), the Integrated Water Management Planning Act, passed the state legislature on Sunday after the Assembly voted 43-25 along party-lines.  If signed by the Governor, the measure will appropriate over $820 million from four different voter-approved bond measures (Propositions 13, 50, 84, and 1E) for the restoration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the epicenter of California’s water system.  Within this appropriation, the bill provides $45 million for critical improvements to the Delta’s levees to protect East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EBMUD) aqueducts that cross the Delta and supply 1.3 million people in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties.

“Senator Perata’s insistence in the Senate and Assemblymember Hayashi’s steadfast advocacy in the Assembly secured vital funding for levee improvements in order to protect EBMUD’s aqueducts.” said EBMUD Director Doug Linney.  “Together, they have helped safeguard our water supply during a future emergency.”

EBMUD’s Mokelumne Aqueducts serve as a lifeline, delivering 96% of the drinking water originating from the Sierra Mountains to Bay Area residents. Experts believe that a single delta levee breach could potentially rupture EBMUD’s three aqueducts and disrupt our water supply for days if not weeks.  This timely and critical appropriation will allow for levee improvements and protect miles of pipeline from levee erosion, flooding, and rising sea levels.

“All across the state there are vital water projects that need to be funded,” stated Assemblymember Hayashi.  “With an issue as fundamental and important as ensuring a continuous clean water supply to the cities of Oakland and San Leandro within my district, I am very pleased that my colleagues in the Assembly joined me in supporting SBX2-1.”