Prop 4 Passed on California Ballot: A Deep Dive into the $10 Billion Dollar Bond

On November 5, California voters approved Prop. 4, a $10 billion dollar bond that will go toward natural resource protection and climate resilience projects. The funds will be allocated to water conservation and health, wildfire prevention and forest management, coastal resilience, extreme heat protection, state wildlife, sustainable farming and ranching, and clean air. Of this $10 billion, $3.8 billion will go to state agencies and localized projects to provide and ensure all communities have access to safe drinking water, flood and drought resilience, water conservation and recycling, and to safeguard the state's water supply against drought. $1.5 billion will go to the California Natural Resource Agency and Office for Emergency Services for wildfire prevention and forest management. $1.2 billion will go to coastal resilience efforts to combat sea level rise and provide flood management. $450 million will go towards combatting extreme heat and providing cooling and community resilience centers- which are neighborhood centers that provide emergency energy and power, heating, cooling, and community resources. $1.2 billion will go towards protecting California wildlife and biodiversity. $300 million will go towards supporting and creating sustainable farms, ranches, and working lands. $700 million will go toward creating new parks and outdoor access programs. Lastly, $850 million will go towards clean air programs.

The act specifies that 40% of the funds must be used to support and benefit disadvantaged communities and vulnerable populations, defined in the bill as a community with a median household income below 80% of the statewide median income or average area income. Funds will be made available through state grants or existing local projects to address climate-change related issues. For example, at least $85 million dollars will be made available to the San Francisco Bay Conservancy Program for projects that address sea level rise, flood management, and wetland restoration including the South Bay Salt Ponds that expand from Hayward to Menlo Park.

Many of the climate resilience projects in Prop. 4 use the term 'restoration', referring to habitat restoration as the practice of improving the natural environment with key goals of natural resource conservation, habitat improvement for wildlife, and natural disaster prevention and public safety.

Restoration addresses these issues through many different methods in order to preserve natural resources, wildlife and plant populations, and reducing risks from climate disasters. Invasive species management is a large part of this process. Invasive species refers to species of plants and animals that are originally from other geographic locations- usually other continents. Because invasive species can survive in our local environment and local species of animals haven't evolved to eat them, the invasives end up taking over and crowding out native plant and animal species. Invasive takeover can reduce animals' sources for food and shelter, consume more water, damage soil quality, contribute to erosion, make natural areas more prone to wildfires, and erase the natural history contained in California's plant and wildlife populations. In oceans and coastal ecosystems, invasive algae can deplete the water of oxygen leading to large fish-kills and destruction of ocean and coastal habitat.

The bill takes effect immediately as an urgency statute due to the high potential risk that climate disasters pose to our communities, infrastructure, and economy. The bill states that without intervention, the annual cost of Climate change to California will reach $113 million dollars by 2050. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, every $1 spent to fight climate change saves $6 in disaster relief. Prop. 4's dollar amount is based on the assessment that $10 billion dollars spent now will help avoid $60 billion dollars in disaster relief. Funding from this bill will help prepare California communities to be resilient in the face of climate change and secure access to safe and clean resources.