FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 08, 2020
Contact: Kathryn Phillips--916-893-8494 (mobile)
Metropolitan Water Board Votes to Spend $59 Million on Planning for Newsom’s Tunnel
Spending Decision Ignores Declining Economy, Ratepayer Strain, Climate Change and Likelihood that Tunnel Won’t Deliver
LOS ANGELES—The board of the main water wholesaler in Southern California today voted unanimously to spend $59 million on planning costs for Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposed Delta tunnel.
The vote by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) board followed three-and-a-half hours of testimony from 60 residents from around California, including environmental activists, who urged the board to reject the expenditure proposal. Activists also insisted that investment in the tunnel was unreasonable given that the district was months away from completing its own integrated, long-term plan for water sourcing.
The $59 million expenditure, coming in the middle of a pandemic surge that is expected to further drag down California’s economy, adds to the $50 million the board voted to spend on tunnel planning in April. It also follows rate increases imposed in April and a board decision to retain an ad valorem tax in August.
Additionally, four years ago MWD spent $175 million to buy two Delta islands to clear the way for tunnel construction.
The Bay-Delta spans about 1100 square miles of lowlands east of San Francisco and south of Sacramento, near Stockton. The Delta is the largest estuary on the west coast of North America, providing breeding grounds and habitat for about 750 species, including salmon.
The proposed tunnel is expected to ruin Delta habitat, encourage higher salinity, and promote water stagnation, leading to harmful algae blooms and ecosystem collapse within the Bay and the Delta.
Newsom’s proposal would build a 40-mile tunnel that would divert water from rivers that feed the San Francisco Bay-Delta and send it south of the Delta. The tunnel is a remnant of Governor Jerry Brown’s water plan that itself was inspired by a decades-old proposal to build a peripheral canal that voters rejected in 1982.
The tunnel is expected to cost between $16 and $40 billion and require 15 to 20 years to construct. The tunnel has not completed its permitting nor has funding for construction been determined, but MWD is expected to cover 65% or more of the costs, even though drought conditions prompted by climate change is expected to reduce the availability of water that would feed into the tunnel.
Statement of Kathryn Phillips, Director of Sierra Club California:
“The MWD board members failed all Californians today. They essentially committed even more precious dollars to a project that won’t provide new water, doesn’t take into account climate change, will create an ecosystem collapse, and will saddle Southern California ratepayers with higher costs for water that won’t get delivered.
“Irresponsible is one adjective for this vote.
“Fortunately, this huge investment is not the end of the story. The board will have more chances in coming months and years to reconsider its commitment to the tunnel boondoggle.
“Then, we hope, the board will abandon the tunnel and focus instead on developing local and regional water sources that provide good local and regional jobs and reliable supplies.”
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory advocacy arm of the 13 Sierra Club chapters in California, representing more than 500,000 members and supporters statewide.