State budget officials and the Legislative Analyst’s Office split Tuesday over a proposed $25 million Healthy Rivers and Landscapes allocation, with the Department of Finance and Secretary Wade Crowfoot framing it as the first-year step in implementing Bay Delta water-quality updates and the LAO urging lawmakers to wait until the updated plan is formally adopted.
During the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 4 hearing, Finance described Healthy Rivers and Landscapes as a way to deliver environmental flows, habitat restoration, science and monitoring tied to the Bay Delta Water Quality Control Plan. Crowfoot said the State Water Board retains authority under Porter-Cologne State Law and defended the proposal as an enforceable implementation program.
The LAO took a more cautious view. Analyst Sonya Pettig said the office thought the request came too early because the Water Board has not yet adopted the updated Bay Delta plan and lawmakers do not yet know the full scale of future obligations.
Assemblymember Wilson also raised concerns tied to Solano County and the Bay Delta plan during the hearing, according to the hearing record.
The transcript does not show final committee action on the $25 million request.
The dispute comes as state agencies continue revising the Bay Delta plan, which has been under update since 2012, and as lawmakers weigh how to structure future spending for water-quality, habitat and flow commitments.
