California’s reservoirs are near empty because water is not being saved in storage the way in which our magnificent water projects were built and designed. California's water shortage is completely preventable - derelict water management has produced instead:

Central Valley Project farmers north and south of the Delta will receive zero irrigation water.

State Water Project farmers were allotted 15% of their water in December, the Department of Water Resources reduced that to a mere 5% allocation.

Newsom's executive order dictates that 27 million State Water Project customers will be budgeted enough water for health and sanitation purposes only, or 44 to 55 gallons per person per day.

California has billions of dollars of unpaid water bills with penalty fines attached. Newsom's $5.1 billion Water Portfolio Package to make droughts survivable will pay those bills - no new water supply is created.

Newsom's executive order prohibits new wells from being drilled in the San Joaquin Valley without the approval of unelected local groundwater agencies.

President Biden has warned of an impending food shortage. Meanwhile, 130,000 acres of prime California farmland was not planted in 2021 because it was allocated 0% irrigation water.

As the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is fully implemented, it is estimated as many as 1.5 million acres of the most productive farmland on the planet will sit idle. That is because no surface water is being delivered for recharge. That is enough land to feed about 40 million people for an entire year.

From December 2021, to through March 2022 environmental water policies have resulted in 3.1 million-acre feet of freshwater ocean outflow. Less than 600,000-acre feet of this was necessary to prevent saltwater intrusion into the Delta. That leaves at least 2.5 million-acre feet of wasted outflow to the Pacific Ocean which could have benefited the Delta, streams, rivers, and fish for hundreds of miles. The amount of wasted water is equal to the amount of water necessary to meet the needs of 24.8 million people for a year.

Wasted outflow in the last four months alone could have grown a year's worth of food for 25 million people. It could have recharged groundwater, diluted the concentration of toxic contaminants in well water in disadvantaged communities, and lowered water bills. It could have arrested the land subsidence that is destroying infrastructure like major conveyance canals, the California Aqueduct, bridges, and roads. It could have prevented the need to pump groundwater and further damage aquifers.

98% of California farmers are multi-generational family farmers. Once a family farm goes out of business and sells off land and assets, it does not come back. Gone with the families is more than a century of successful farmer know how, in a region that can grow more than 400 food and fiber crops in the only Mediterranean climate like it in America.

** Credit to Kristi Diener, “The CA Water for Food and People Movement” FaceBook page **  

In order to make housing more affordable, we must lower the cost and increase the rate of new construction. We can address rising construction costs by reducing state regulation of new housing construction, by providing flexibility on materials used in housing construction and by attracting skilled labor to the construction field; I support career technical education in our high schools. I support limiting development fees in order to lower the cost of building new housing and reform of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in order to reduce frivolous litigation that slows the speed and increases the cost of new housing construction.

California's schools have deteriorated due to the systematic marginalization of involvement by parents in the education of California students. I support reasonable measures to strengthen academic standards and maximize the influence and involvement of parents in the schools. I support an education system that ensures access and opportunity for all children, blind to the color of their skin, the circumstances of their neighborhood, or the socioeconomic background of their home. Parents will make better choices than government in almost every case.

I support school choice programs, tax-credit scholarships, magnet schools, public charter schools, homeschooling, educational savings accounts and the right of parents to opt out of age inappropriate sexually explicit curriculum. The top priority of our schools should be learning basic competencies, not social engineering.

Dependence on foreign energy threatens our national security, economic prosperity and access to reliable and sustainable energy. Development of energy that is independent from foreign sources is of strategic and livability importance. Recall recent summer rolling blackouts when the electric grid nearly collapsed? Part of the reason was the “slump” in renewable energy that occurs at night when solar panels don’t work and when wind turbines are not turning. California’s electric grid is highly dependent on solar and wind due to laws which prioritize those things and require California’s electricity to be 100% “carbon free” energy by 2045. The average US national electricity rate is less than half of that of California. If you think your bill is high and energy is unreliable now, just wait until 2045.

California is paying the price for abandoning reliable energy sources in favor of unreliable “green” energy sources such as wind and solar power. The sensible path forward for clean, affordable and reliable energy is hydro-electric and nuclear energy. Additionally, California must work towards developing new and innovative clean energy sources and then carry that effort forward throughout the country.

Santa Ana has one of the cleanest tap water in the country, but many surrounding cities do not have the same benefit. I hope to champion legisilation that will increase water access to all communities, including indigenous communities. I plan to encourage cities to implement approaches like recycling water, collecting stormwater, and creating union jobs that help increasie the water needs of all Californians. 

Many working class, middle-class low income, and working poor Californians spend over half their pay on rent. The harsh reality is we are in a housing crisis,leading to high increases in rent that displace and gentrify our communities. I hope to champion to build more affordable housing and protect our tenants by advocating to repeal the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act, and tackling the Ellis Law.

As the first person in my family to attend and graduate from college, I know the importance and the value of a public education. During my time at UC Berkeley, I found my voice to advocate for students on and off campus, including fighting tuition hikes and campaigning to reform Prop 13 to increase funding to public education. We need to implement new approaches and policies that will support underfunded schools, reinstate affirmative action, and make public college free for all.

California needs a Green New Deal to save the planet and our communities' most vulnerable residents. In the district, our communities suffer from a soil lead contamination crisis and are living in unmonitored hotspots levels exceeding both state AND federal guidelines.  These issues are due to the neglect of the state. I hope to advocate for guarantee access to clean air water, and call on the state to tackle the climate crisis in our hard hit neighborhoods.We must transition to clean energy sources for the long-term health of environments, economy, and communities. Expand green spaces and make public transit free. 

The most critical parts of our water infrastructure were built over a half century ago. Some 30% of California's water supply comes straight from reservoirs, which haven't been maintained in decades. Despite Democrats pledging to build new water infrastructure and raising taxes for that very purpose numerous times, absolutely NO major water storage facilities have been built since 1979. I support upgrading our water infrastructure and making sure our farmers maintain an abundant and clean supply of water for our agriculture even when there's drought periods. Also, when there is a drought, and the reservoirs are critically low, why not dig them deeper to hold more water, prevent early runoff, and expand the reserve? Common sense must be implemented when it comes to managing the water in California.

There needs to be a halt on property tax with no increases in the near future and less restrictions on building regulations, which drive up the costs dramatically. When it costs the owner more money to build, it inevitably goes to the buyer or the renter.

I support the Educational Freedom Act, which would effectively give each K-12 student an Education Savings Account and give the power to parents to spend $14,000 at a school of their choice - no matter how much money they make. The money needs to follow the child. I vehemently oppose Critical Race Theory and believe that Patriotic education should be taught in schools. In addition, I support getting trade schools involved with our public school system and having exchanges between those programs. Not everyone has to go to college to be a successful and productive member of society, so this would give each individual more flexibility.