“Mní wičhóni”. Water is life.
We have endured a decades-long drought in California and must adopt a totally new approach to conservation. We must adapt to the reality of a new normal in which the climate is drier and our agricultural practices must change. I have no doubt that California can rise to the challenge.
Millions of people around the world, including me, will never forget the bravery of water protectors who protested the Dakota Access Pipeline, enduring freezing water cannons and rubber bullets. These people showed the rest of the world “Water is Life”, and it is worth more than oil and money through civil disobedience.
I will create the space and incentives for Californians to fully understand and adapt to our new reality with respect to water. Armed with the truth, we can better and more efficiently adapt. My plan includes low-cost, efficient investment in public media and information to make known the easiest and most important ways to conserve. This public information campaign includes an unvarnished account of what is driving our water problems and what we do individually and collectively.
Today, the story of water is a fight between ordinary people and their future and growing efforts by some to capture as much ownership of water as possible, wherever it may be, and whoever may be affected.