Assembly Member Rich Gordon, Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Water Consumption and Alternative Sources, held what is perhaps the first hearing with its own Twitter Account - #AsmDrought. Additionally, Dr. Eilon Adar from Ben Gurion University of the Negev provided his international perspective on managing periodic severe drought via Skype from his home in Be’er Sheva, Israel. Dr. Adar testified they had invested heavily in common shared infrastructure to provide agriculture with recycled water and provided the agriculture sector with incentives to utilize recycled water.
At the conclusion of the hearing Chair Gordon asked each panelist “what are one or two things you would do right now to help improve the situation?” Peter Gleick, President of the Pacific Institute, stated that Proposition 218 is a significant barrier that needs reform, and he would also accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Buzz Thompson, Director of the Stanford Woods Institute, would like to see a systematic approach and collaboration regarding research and development among water suppliers, and also agreed that Proposition 218 needed reform. Finally, Ellen Hanak, Director of the Public Policy Institute of California, Water Policy Center stated she would like to see the state take over the Central Valley Project and to streamline the administration of water rights in order to better manage in real time.