From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Flawed water proposal will drain public dollars

Coalition response…The author’s insistence that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and its twin tunnels will “drain billions of public dollars away from schools….” is false. Both urban and agricultural water users are responsible for paying their fair share of the costs associated with their water supply. Conclusions by urban water agencies show that the “ruinous rates” claimed by the author will be less than $5 per month for Southern California families, which will likely not drive anyone into bankruptcy.

BDCP is governed by a measure adopted by the California Legislature in 2009 that called for the establishment of a reliable water supply and a restored Delta ecosystem. The improved water supply will send water to users in Southern California and almost 4,000 family farms in the San Joaquin Valley where that water grows the fresh fruits and vegetables that consumers seek in their grocery stores. BDCP also proposes to create 140,000 acres of habitat in the Delta.

The twin tunnels are vastly different from the Peripheral Canal of years ago. The tunnels will include a capacity to move 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) while the Peripheral Canal’s capacity was 21,800 cfs. An analysis (www.farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf) of the two projects reveals more differences.

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