PID recovery project defunded

The state's recent budget cut plans include reverting money from Paradise Irrigation District's recovery projects from the Camp Fire.

Part of governor gavin newsom's revised budget cut plan -- includes slashing funds promised to support camp fire recovery efforts.

Our own brandon benitez joins us live in studio with what this means for the paradise irrigation district... alan, over seven - point - three, million dollars were reverted from p-i-d in this budget cut plan... now -- recovery efforts have another roadblock ahead... it's tough.

It's a shock i don't think the shock has wore off yet.

Over 7.3 million dollars given to the paraidse irrigation district -- now gone... this was to allow us to get kind of our feet underneath us, allow normal operations to happen through the recovery process, but also it was to allow us to go through a study which was linked to the money which was to look at options available for us to sustain ourselves through the rebuild and to the future... p-i-d has been at the forefront of recovery projects since the november 2018 camp fire... but governor gavin newsom's latest cut leaves many frustrated..

It's ludacris that the legislature approved it, you know and it's a vital thing having clean water is a big deal... we feel like we're kind of out on a little bit of an island it just feels like the state has let us down... now during the coronavirus pandemic p-i-d director kevin phillips and his team have to think on the fly... we're reverting resources away from the rebuild now having to think about what funding is available out there, looking for new funding available that we didn't have to for next year because we were relying on the 7.3 and that 7.3 would've got us through not just the next year but a little bit into the following year phillips told me three weeks ago p-i-d was in communication with the department of finance and was hoping to be in the loop if any cuts needed to be made... the first time he heard about the reverted funds was last night through a third party source... live in studio brandon benitez.

Alan back to you... assemblyman james gallagher called this a cold-hearted decision///and says it won't be tolerated....