California lawmakers passed a bill on Wednesday committing US$7.5 billion to mitigating a multiyear drought.

The bill, which will go up for vote in November, was signed on the last possible day to be put up for a vote. The bill would update the state's aging water infrastructure and install new water saving technologies.

Like Us on Facebook

California's water infrastructure has not seen major updates in more than 30 years, the Contra Costa Times reports.

The biggest appropriation of the bill, US$2.7 billion, is dedicated to constructing and updating dams, reservoirs, and other water storage structures. The second largest, US$1.5 billion, is dedicated to restoring rivers, lakes, and watersheds.

The rest is split between a variety of items, most notably US$725 million to water recycling and US$520 million to cleanse the drinking water for several small Californian communities.

The bill was controversial until the last day, when California Governor Jerry Brown stepped in to mediate between Republicans and Democrats, garnering bipartisan favor. The bill passed the California Assembly 77-2 and the Senate 37-0.

Three years of low rainfall has created an extreme drought in 80 percent of California, Bloomberg News reports. Farmers have protested the state's handling of the drought so far and how it is limiting their water usage.

A water bill had been in the works in 2009 when then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed an $11 billion plan, but it was deemed too bloated and never passed.

The bill still needs to be voted in on the November ballot, which worries Senate President Darrell Steinberg.

"We have to pass this bond in November, otherwise the work here is for naught," he said.

Those who voted against the bill were Republican Tim Donnelly of Twin Peaks and Democrat Wesley Chesbro of Arcata.

Tagscalifornia drought, water pollution