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california Water Today 119 Relative to other states, California has an active initiative process, whereby interest groups can put both policy and spending measures on the ballot.49 In addition, the California legislature must place general obligation (GO) bonds up for public vote, and it has the option to seek voter approval for policy measures. Policy and fiscal initiatives are also common at the local level (Gordon 2004). Although relatively few policy initiatives have addressed water issues at the state level,50 the electorate has weighed in on fundamental water policy decisions at several key times in the past: The first modern water code (1914), the Central Valley Project (1933), the “reasonable use” provisions of the California constitu- tion (1928), and the State Water Project (1960) all went before voters for their approval (Chapter 1). Voters were also responsible for two important pieces of recent policy: the 1982 defeat of the peripheral canal, which had been approved by the governor and the legislature two years earlier, and the 1986 passage of Proposition 65, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxics Enforcement Act, which aimed to protect drinking water from several types of hazardous chemicals. In recent decades, voters have been solicited numerous times to approve GO bonds to support water-related activities. Between 1970 and 2006, voters approved more than 20 water bonds—covering water supply, water quality, and flood control—authorizing a total of over $32 billion (2008 $) in spending (Table 2.9). The size of these bonds has increased dramatically over the past decade, and GO bonds have become a major mechanism for funding state water- related activity. The largest water bond to date ($11.1 billion), part of the 2009 legislative package, was initially scheduled to go before voters in November 2010 and has now been rescheduled for November 2012 over concerns that the eco- nomic recession and state budget woes would dissuade voters from approving it. In parallel to their largesse on state general obligation bonds for water, California voters have directly restricted the financial options of state and local governments, including local water agencies. Proposition 13, passed in 1978, limited property assessments and mandated supermajority voter approval for the passage of local special taxes. California is also one of only eight states with supermajority requirements on the passage of local GO bonds.51 (State GO bonds require only a simple majority to pass.) For water-related activities, two 49. Out of 24 states that have an initiative process, California was second only to Oregon in the cumulative frequency of initiatives on statewide ballots as of August 31, 2010 (353 vs. 342) (National Conference of State Legislatures 2010). 50. Only 6 percent have addressed environmental issues more broadly (Center for Governmental Studies 2008). 51. This restriction dates back to the early 1900s. Other states with supermajority requirements include Missouri and North Dakota (two-thirds majority to pass local debt) and Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, Washington, and West Virginia (three-fifths majority).