Opinion: Vote ‘yes.’ Prop. 45 changes construction timelines, not our standards

This summer gave Californians a stark warning about the condition of the water infrastructure we all depend on.

In July, a 110-year-old water line ruptured beneath Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, releasing roughly 17 million gallons of water, flooding homes and businesses, damaging up to 200 cars and shutting down part of Sunset Boulevard for more than a week. Less than two weeks later, another water main broke in Los Angeles’ Fairfax District, where drinking water is provided by the city’s municipal water system.

These failures point to a much bigger challenge: California needs to be able to deliver the basics. In 2025, the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the state’s drinking water infrastructure a dismal D+ in its California Infrastructure Report Card. Few things are more basic than clean, reliable and affordable drinking water.

That’s why the California Water Association supports Proposition 45, the Building an Affordable California Act.

Prop. 45 will help California repair aging systems and build essential water infrastructure faster and more affordably, without sacrificing environmental protections, public input or local control.

Across California, water providers are replacing aging pipes, modernizing treatment facilities, improving storage, expanding water recycling and groundwater recharge, and strengthening supplies against drought. Most people never see this infrastructure. But they depend on it every time they turn on a faucet.

The problem is that building and upgrading it can take far longer and cost far more than it should.

Deferred maintenance costs everyone more. Aging pipes continue to deteriorate. Construction and financing costs rise. Needed upgrades become more expensive. And ultimately, families and businesses paying water bills and taxpayers funding public infrastructure pick up the tab.

Prop. 45 tackles those costly delays by establishing clear, enforceable timelines for environmental reviews, permitting and legal challenges for essential projects — the things Californians rely on every day, including water systems, housing, clean energy, transportation, schools, health care facilities and wildfire resilience improvements.

Just as importantly, Prop. 45 does not require California to choose between moving faster and protecting our environment. Projects must still comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, California Coastal Act, Endangered Species Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act and every other applicable environmental law. Counties, cities and other local agencies retain full authority to determine what may be built, where it may be built and under what conditions.

Any project that qualifies for Prop. 45 streamlining must meet California’s strongest labor protections.

Prop. 45 changes the timeline, not the standards.

The 110-year-old pipe beneath Sunset Boulevard is a powerful reminder: infrastructure doesn’t stop aging while bureaucracy, red tape and costly delays pile up.

And water is hardly the only place where Californians are paying the price for delay. Californians need homes they can afford, reliable energy, safe roads, good schools and accessible health care. When essential projects take years longer than necessary to build, we all pay more.

Prop. 45 is fundamentally about affordability. If California wants to become more affordable, we have to get better at delivering those basics.

We have the engineers, workers and expertise to build a more reliable water future. What we need is an approval process capable of keeping up.

The failures on Sunset Boulevard and in Fairfax should be warnings, not previews of what’s ahead.

Californians deserve clean, reliable drinking water at a price they can afford. We should be fixing aging systems before they fail and building the infrastructure our growing state will need for decades to come.

Prop. 45 will help California do exactly that — while maintaining the environmental and water-quality protections Californians expect.

This November, Californians should vote “yes” on Prop. 45.

Jennifer Capitolo is executive director of the California Water Association.