$10 billion for water, fire and heat. $1.36 billion of it has been awarded.
Two years after the vote, most of Prop 4 is still in play. This is where every chapter stands, what is open now, and what the next budget decides.
From the ballot to the project, stage by stage.
Voters authorized the bond. The Legislature appropriates it. Agencies award it. The Treasurer borrows it.
Figures as of November 3, 2026. Updated monthly from the Budget Acts, the Legislative Analyst, the Natural Resources Agency, the Treasurer and the California Grants Portal.
November 3, 2026 · Highview Strategies
Two years after the vote, the Legislature has appropriated $6.15 billion of the $10 billion climate bond. Agencies have awarded $1.36 billion of it to 212 named recipients. The Treasurer has borrowed $330 million.
That leaves $4.8 billion appropriated and waiting on an award. Another $3.75 billion has not been appropriated at all. For an applicant, both pools are still in play.
| Stage | Amount | Share of the bond |
|---|---|---|
| Authorized by voters, November 2024 | $10.00 billion | 100% |
| Appropriated in the 2024, 2025 and 2026 Budget Acts | $6.15 billion | 61.5% |
| Awarded to projects | $1.36 billion | 13.6% |
| Borrowed (bonds and commercial paper, September 1) | $330 million | 3.3% |
Appropriated is not awarded
Of every dollar the Legislature has appropriated, 22 cents has reached a named project. The pace is uneven. Biodiversity is at 41 percent. Extreme heat is under 1 percent.
| Chapter | Appropriated | Awarded | Share awarded |
|---|---|---|---|
| Biodiversity and nature-based solutions | $676M | $279M | 41.3% |
| Coastal resilience | $496M | $153M | 30.8% |
| Safe drinking water, drought, flood and water resilience | $2,291M | $562M | 24.5% |
| Wildfire and forest resilience | $929M | $222M | 23.8% |
| Park creation and outdoor access | $570M | $92M | 16.1% |
| Clean energy | $601M | $43M | 7.1% |
| Climate smart agriculture | $260M | $6M | 2.4% |
| Extreme heat mitigation | $356M | $1M | 0.3% |
The largest pools that are appropriated and still waiting on awards:
- Safe drinking water, State Water Board (section 91011). $449 million appropriated, $92 million awarded.
- Dam safety, DWR (91022). $246 million appropriated, nothing awarded. DWR has a $228.2 million local assistance round announced.
- Statewide Park Program, State Parks (94010). $192 million appropriated. Round 5 closes December 17, 2026.
- State Plan of Flood Control and flood subventions, DWR (91021). $358 million appropriated, $39 million awarded.
- Transformative Climate Communities, LCI (92520). $138 million appropriated. Round 6 applications closed September 30, 2026.
- Transmission financing, IBank (94520). $323 million appropriated. This is a transfer into the California Transmission Accelerator Revolving Fund, not a grant program, so it will not show up as awards.
Extreme heat looks stalled, and it is not. Most of it arrived in the 2026 budget package, and two of its rounds closed in September. The awards from those rounds have not posted yet.
Still to be appropriated
The Legislative Analyst counts $3.75 billion the Legislature has not yet appropriated. Half of it sits in ten programs. These are the lines the 2027-28 budget will decide.
| Program | Section | Dept. | Not yet appropriated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coastal and flood management for developed shoreline | 92015 | Coastal Conservancy | $312M |
| Groundwater management and instream flow | 91012(a) | DWR | $276M |
| Offshore wind port infrastructure | 94540 | Energy Commission | $241M |
| Dam safety | 91022 | DWR | $231M |
| Fish and wildlife habitat | 93010 | Wildlife Conservation Board | $207M |
| Coastal resilience projects | 92010(a) | Coastal Conservancy | $182M |
| Safe drinking water | 91011(a) | State Water Board | $132M |
| Forest health on state park land | 91520(f) | State Parks | $132M |
| Water reuse and recycling | 91014 | State Water Board | $127M |
| Regional Forest and Fire Capacity | 91520(a) | Conservation | $113M |
The other side of the ledger matters as much. Thirty-eight program lines already have all of their project money appropriated, including most of the farm and food programs and the conservancy wildfire set-asides. For those, the only money left is whatever the agency has not yet awarded.
Who has been awarded so far
Local governments and special districts hold the largest share of awards. State agencies are second, because several departments fund their own work from the bond.
| Recipient type | Awarded | Awards | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local government or special district | $514M | 81 | 37.8% |
| State agency | $437M | 112 | 32.2% |
| Nonprofit, business or other | $378M | 138 | 27.8% |
| University (UC and CSU) | $21M | 11 | 1.5% |
| Tribe | $8.5M | 6 | 0.6% |
The state agency share is mostly DWR ($192 million, including $150 million for the Salton Sea) and State Parks (about $107 million across its own projects).
The largest outside recipients are water agencies and small cities. Sacramento Area Sewer District has $67.1 million for water recycling and storage. The cities of Parlier, Colusa, Alturas and Firebaugh have $98 million between them for drinking water and recycling. East Bay Regional Park District has $53 million for habitat, and the Trust for Public Land has $50 million for coastal resilience.
About 47 percent of award dollars go to projects the state flags as serving a disadvantaged community.
Open now
The Grants Portal lists 18 open Prop 4 rounds and two announced ones, about $890 million in stated funding. Most of the open rounds are conservancy programs that take applications on a rolling basis.
| Round | Agency | Stated funding | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide Park Program, Round 5 | State Parks | $188.5M | December 17, 2026 |
| Water Recycling | State Water Board | $150.0M | June 30, 2030 |
| Dam Safety and Climate Resilience Local Assistance | DWR | $228.2M | Announced, not yet open |
| Watershed Resilience Conservation Implementation | DWR | $60.0M | Announced, not yet open |
| Rolling programs at four Southern California conservancies | SMMC, RMC, Baldwin Hills, San Diego River | $219M | Ongoing |
| Urban Streams Restoration | DWR | $20.6M | Ongoing |
The portal is not the whole picture. The Wildlife Conservation Board has awarded more Prop 4 money than any other agency, and it approves projects at board meetings rather than through portal rounds.
What these numbers do not show
- Cash. The state accounting system showed no payments from the Prop 4 fund through May 2026, the latest month available. Borrowing is the best public proxy until that changes.
- Every award. The project list depends on departments reporting to the Natural Resources Agency. It runs behind board approvals, and a few entries carry placeholder dates.
- Exact program splits. Program-level appropriations come from the Analyst's tables, rounded to the million. The statute total is $6.154 billion. The Analyst's total runs slightly higher.
- Two programs where state sources disagree. State Parks forest health (91520(f)) and DWR water conservation (91019) show more awarded than appropriated. Both are reported as the state published them.
The useful question for an applicant is not how much is left. It is which program, which round, and what that agency is scoring for. Highview tracks this monthly. Questions and corrections go to russell@highviewstrat.com.
Sources
- Budget Acts of 2024, 2025 and 2026 and amending bills as chaptered, including AB 113 (Chapter 248, Statutes of 2026). Compiled in Highview's California budget database.
- Legislative Analyst's Office, The 2026-27 California Spending Plan: Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, October 5, 2026.
- California Natural Resources Agency, Prop 4 Climate Bond program pages and project list, retrieved November 3, 2026.
- State Treasurer's Office, Authorized and Outstanding General Obligation Bonds, as of September 1, 2026.
- California Grants Portal, grants offered, retrieved November 3, 2026.
The figures at the top of this page are refreshed monthly. The memo is dated and is revised by hand, so a number in the memo can trail the figures above it.
Tell us the program you are chasing.
Name the program or the round. We will tell you what has been appropriated, what has been awarded, and when the next money moves.
If the round is not open yet, that is the time to start.