SACRAMENTO — Governor Jerry Brown and legislative leaders on Thursday proposed legislation to accelerate more than $1 billion in drought-relief spending for California as it copes with a fourth dry year and Brown urges residents to reduce water use.
The package of two bills includes $128 million to ease immediate impacts of the drought such as dry wells, job losses at farms, and wildfires. It also accelerates nearly $1 billion in bond funding for water projects, including money from a $7.5 billion bond measure approved by voters last year.
‘‘We need to get the money out the door now for shovel-ready projects and existing water programs that only need funding to get started,’’ Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon said. ‘‘No delay. No red tape.’’
Nearly two-thirds of the funds in the package would go toward flood control projects approved by voters in 2006.
Lawmakers said the projects can indirectly help boost drinking water supplies in the future.
Brown said floods are a concern even during dry years because of climate change. ‘‘You’re all focused on drought, but you can get massive storms that flood through these channels that overflow and cause havoc,’’ he said.
More immediate funding includes $20 million for additional emergency drinking water for communities with dry wells; $24 million for food banks in drought-stricken counties; and $13 million to help fish and animals threatened by vanishing streams and rivers.
Brown said the drought has highlighted fundamental questions about how the state uses water and will require Californians to adopt innovative solutions.
‘‘Growing a walnut or an almond takes water. Having a new house with a bunch of toilets and showers takes water,’’ Brown said. ‘‘So how do we balance use and efficiency with the kind of life that people want in California?’’
The measures are expected to come for a vote within a week and will need majority approval from the state Legislature, which is controlled by Democrats. Republican legislative leaders joined Brown at a news conference Thursday but were not involved in negotiating the deal.
Such spending is normally approved as part of budget negotiations that last through June, but de Leon said California cannot wait until then.
‘‘Congress hasn’t pitched in a penny so far,’’ he added.
Although the plan is labeled as emergency legislation, much of the funding has been available to the state for years. Some of the projects that will benefit could take more than a year before there is a noticeable increase in water supplies.
The water in the Sierra Nevada snowpack — California’s largest water source — is far below normal this year.
Winter is normally California’s rainy season, but it’s drawing to an end without significant storms to replenish reservoirs.