![]() Schwarzenegger’s plan was even bigger - 15,000 cubic feet per second. This new one has a maximum capacity of 6,000 cubic feet per second, whereas Brown’s plan called for a capacity 50% higher. The single tunnel project is smaller than iterations proposed during the Brown and Schwarzenegger administrations. The Metropolitan Water District is footing about 44% - roughly $160 million. They are joined by 14 other water agencies that receive water from the State Water Project.īetween 20, that group of water agencies, known as the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority, planned to spend about $360 million on the effort. ![]() ![]() Large water districts, including the Metropolitan Water District and the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose, have been funding the planning of the tunnel system for years. It would also create thousands of jobs - one reason the state’s powerful labor unions have backed versions of it for decades, along with numerous governors.Ĭost estimates are running around $16 billion - $3 billion less than the previous iteration, a double-tunnel system proposed in 2018, during Brown’s administration. If constructed, it would be the state’s largest infrastructure venture since the high-speed rail system, a project that has faced numerous delays, cost overruns and litigation - hurdles that could also hobble the water tunnels. “A lot of people are wondering what’s going on,” says one environmental activist. Newsom’s water policies appear in flux amid lobbying by competing interests. It would capture water from the Sacramento River, just 17 miles south of the state capital, and deliver it to the Bethany Reservoir, northwest of Tracy, where the existing State Water Project pumps are.Ĭlimate & Environment Newsom pledged to fix California water politics. The state’s favored proposal outlines the construction of a tunnel - 36 feet in diameter on the inside - crossing the eastern side of the delta, whereas an earlier version went down the middle. If permitted, he said, it’ll be challenged in court. He said it’s also unclear the proposal will be permitted, given that federal and state endangered species laws may forbid changed water diversions from habitat that supports already threatened species. “This proposed system would be even worse for the environment than the degraded status quo.” “The status quo in the delta jeopardizes the continued existence of our native fish and wildlife, and for the thousands of fishing jobs and communities that depend on a healthy environment,” said Doug Obegi, a senior attorney in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program. It is also unclear how much water would be diverted during different years and flow conditions, which environmentalists fear could harm imperiled fish such as chinook salmon, steelhead and smelt. “We have a responsibility to adapt to this change by capturing and storing excess water to protect our communities and the environment and to provide the ability to beneficially use that stored water when conditions are dry.”īut the draft environmental impact report said the project - a modern-day version of the Peripheral Canal - would also cause “unavoidable” impacts to delta farms, according to the document released Wednesday. “Climate change continues to threaten every water source across the West,” said Adel Hagekhalil, the Metropolitan Water District’s general manager. All along, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has been a major driver of this replumbing. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown - would grab excess water delivered by big storms and divert some of those Sacramento River flows to thirsty cities in the south. The proposed tunnel - which is a trimmed-down version of tunnel scenarios proposed by the administrations of Govs.
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