Topline: Local residents and environmental advocates have banded together to oppose California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposed $20 billion water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, with various groups arguing the project will “make our town uninhabitable” and have “terrible consequences” for wildlife.
Key facts: California officials have debated building a tunnel for decades. The current proposal will store rainwater to prepare for potential droughts caused by climate change, and is expected to provide $38 billion in benefits: an increased water supply that would be better protected from natural disasters. In April, the State Water Resources Control Board began holding hearings to decide on granting permits for the project.
Opposition has been fierce. The Associated Press said that the tunnel is “one of the most controversial projects in recent memory.”
Some are afraid of the impact on salmon and other fish in the river delta, which CalMatters says “has collapsed from a once-thriving ecosystem into an aquatic ICU of endangered species and harmful algal blooms.”
State Sen. Jerry McNerney is worried about the cost. He told CalMatters he believes the tunnel will actually cost $40 billion once they factor in the costs to mitigate the environmental impacts.
Construction will be based in the town of Hood, with a population of just 271. One resident told CalMatters, “This will make our town uninhabitable. There will be so much heavy equipment and traffic and people going through town that the locals will be driven out.”
California plans to address that problem by throwing even more money at it. The tunnel’s price tag includes $200 million in grants to help local communities recover from the impacts of the construction project.
The tunnel would still not entirely offset the expected effects of climate change. The state believes its water supply will decrease by 22% by 2070, while the tunnel will provide a 17% boost, according to the AP.
There also may be other, cheaper ways to boost the state’s water supply. A new report from the University of California, Los Angeles found that California recycles just 22% of its wastewater. Nearby Nevada recycles 85%, and Arizona recycles 52%.
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Critical quote: Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta, told Governing.com that “The tunnel is like dropping a bomb on the north delta … There is a body of science out there that shows that you can’t divert more than 25 percent of the fresh water from an estuary and have it survive. And we have been diverting 50 percent and 60 percent regularly now.”
Summary: A $20 billion price tag is shocking for any project, let alone one that not everyone agrees will actually benefit California.
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