Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California legislators have allocated $250 million to California State Parks for the task of critical infrastructure repair.

State Parks has a deferred maintenance backlog of more than 10,000 projects worth more than $900 million--such things as roofs, roads, water and wastewater plants, campgrounds and other facilities that have suffered through more than two decades of tight budgets.

"This funding is a milestone in the governor's fight to rebuild California's aging infrastructure," said State Parks Director Ruth Coleman.

"For years, our limited state budget during hard times has forced us to keep deferring needed repairs to the system," Coleman said.

"This funding will allow us to tackle the worst of the worst and help us begin the task of rebuilding the infrastructure of the largest, most visited state park system in the nation."

The governor and the state legislature were able to include the $250 million because of the increased revenues realized from an improving California economy. It's one-time funding that will be used to attack the deferred maintenance problem that has been growing steadily since the late 1980s.

There's no immediate list yet available of exactly what projects will be funded and where. This is the case because State Parks must now go through the thousands of individual projects to select which ones rise to the top as being the highest, most critical priorities to be take on with the $250 million.

Selections will be made based on health and safety first, with emphasis on the aging and failing water and wastewater treatment plants within the park system across the state. Other top priorities will include visitor-serving facilities, targeting such things as roads and roofs.

Throughout the state there are historic structures more than 100 years old that are deteriorating, and efforts must be made to prevent further damage. In the area of natural resources, there are serious erosion problems and areas worn out from heavy use that must be replanted.

The funds will also be used to help conserve deteriorating cultural and archeological sites.

State Parks will have six years to spend this funding allocation.

This story provided by StatePoint Media.