California OKs new spending on drought, wildfire prevention
![](https://calscientists.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Lake-Oroville-kayak.jpg)
California lawmakers recently voted to spend more than $2 billion to prevent wildfires and address a severe drought, closing the book — for now — on a $262.5 billion operating budget that began the year with a record deficit because of the pandemic and ended with a record surplus despite it.