Dear friends,
Metropolitan Water District voted to move forward with the Delta Islands purchase, despite our petition drive and astute comments made to their board by Restore the Delta Board President Joan Buchanan and Board Member Larry Ruhstaller. Restore the Delta President Joan Buchanan explained to the MET Board that their annual payments for the loan to purchase the Delta islands really covers the costs of interest only — they have not budgeted repayment toward the principal. This is poor planning for their ratepayers.
We are not surprised or discouraged. Metropolitan Water District cannot continue its policies of taking resources from the Delta without public scrutiny with the legislative call for an audit of the state's financing of the tunnels project. Plus, the litigation against the purchase continues.
Below, you will find stories on these topics from various media outlets. Thank you again for your support!
SoCal Water Giant Defeats Challenge to Delta Islands Buy
Matt Reynolds – Courthouse News Service May 10, 2016
Despite growing opposition, the largest supplier of treated drinking water in the United States on Tuesday batted away a challenge to its planned $175 million purchase of four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. ….
…. In a letter to Metropolitan chairman Randy Record, Restore the Delta’s Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said that the California residents are just a “small sampling” of millions of people in the Bay-Delta area who are opposed.
Assemblymember Eggman, Senator Wolk to Request Audit of Delta Tunnels
Dan Bacher – Daily Kos May 10, 2016
As the economic, scientific and financial justifications for Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels Plan continue to collapse, two Delta legislators on Monday, May 9 put yet another potential hurdle in the project’s path. ….
…. Their announcement followed the release of a detailed Public Records Act request Monday by Restore the Delta (RTD). Restore the Delta also requested an audit of the project, noting a long list of concerns about public spending on the project and its legality, Wolk noted.
Ground Zero in Water War
Dennis Wyatt – Manteca Bulletin May 10, 2016
Arguably there is no place in California with bigger stake in the $18 billion Twin Tunnels plan to funnel Sacramento River water under the Delta to reach Los Angeles than San Joaquin County. Altogether more than 70 percent of all the water from developed sources such as reservoirs in the Sierra and Siskiyous moves through the Delta that’s been described as “the switching yard” for California’s water. And virtually all of that water flows through San Joaquin County’s portion of the Delta that accounts for nearly half of the county’s farm production.
Wolk to Seek Delta Twin Tunnels Project Audit
Jess Sullivan – Daily Republic May 10, 2016
Sen. Lois Wolk announced Monday that she will request a state audit of the California twin tunnels project, designed to divert water south from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Legislators Call for Audit of Twin Tunnels
Joe Benapfl – Lodi News-Sentinel May 9, 2016
On Monday, two separate groups called for a state audit on the California Water Fix, better known as the Delta Twin Tunnels proposal. ….
…. This announcement comes after Restore the Delta, a Stockton-based grassroots organization sent a request under the California Public Records Act seeking details about the funding plan. The California Department of Water Resources was among six public agencies the request was addressed to.