Los Angeles, CA –The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted in favor of supporting the CA WaterFix (Delta Tunnels) project today. The vote is an approval by the MWD board to participate in the construction of the tunnels, contribute 26% of funding, and go forth with two joint powers authorities–one for construction, and one for financing.
To view MWD’s proposed motions on CA WaterFix, reference item 8.4 on the Oct. 10 board agenda.
With Metropolitan financially committed, the focus of tunnels opponents now shifts to the two remaining water districts asked to participate in the Delta Tunnels: Kern County Water Agency and Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Kern County Water’s vote on CA WaterFix is scheduled for this Thursday, October 12, while Santa Clara Valley is scheduled to vote next Tuesday, October 17.
Next steps for tunnels opponents include Phase 2 of State Water Resources Control Board hearings, as well as continued litigation on the CEQA case and the Validation case.
Executive Director of Restore the Delta, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:
“While we anticipated the outcome of the MWD vote some time ago, we knew that Southern California ratepayers needed to be warned about what this project means for them in terms of higher water rates and no increased reliability. We also knew that we needed to spend time and energy educating Southern Californians about the Delta and our state’s water management, so that’s what we did. MWD may have won the battle, but we know the tunnels will never be built because economics, science, and law will carry us through the permitting processes and litigation, ensuring victory.
“What perhaps frustrates us the most is that a tremendous amount of time, talent, and treasure is being squandered for a nostalgic effort to recreate a big water project of the last century. The best minds who work in California water will spend years fighting this project until it is stopped instead of leading the way on better solutions. This is not a plan to make California water resilient in the face of climate change. It is not a project that will create environmental or economic sustainability for future generations. It is the last gasp of an unsustainable, environmentally destructive way of managing California’s water supply.”
To review highlights from the MWD meeting and tunnels opponents press conference, a collection of Restore the Delta’s tweets can be accessed here.
For immediate release: Oct. 10, 2017
Contact:
Nora Kovaleski, 408-806-6470, nora@kovaleskipr.com
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org