[env-trinity] Westlands Water District Votes No on Delta Tunnels Project!

[Dan Bacher]

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/9/19/1699905/-Westlands-Water-District-Votes-No-on-Delta-Tunnels-Project

Map of Westlands Water District courtesy of WWD.

Westlands Water District Votes No on Delta Tunnels Project!

by Dan Bacher

In a major victory for Delta Tunnels opponents, the Board of Directors  
of the Westlands Water District today voted 7 to 1 against their  
participation in Governor Jerry Brown’s California WaterFix project.
Growers in the massive district, located on the west side of the San  
Joaquin Valley, cited the high cost of the state-federal proposal as  
their reason for rejecting the project. Politically powerful Westlands  
is the largest irrigation district in the country.

The district would be one of the key beneficiaries of the proposed 35- 
mile long twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta —  
and their rejection of the project is a major loss for the Brown  
administration’s efforts to fast-track the construction of the  
project. It also sends a message to other water districts that the  
cost of the controversial plan is not worth the potential benefits.

The Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California board is  
slated to  vote on the tunnels in early October, but the Westlands  
vote delivers a major blow to the project.

“Westlands’ decision to not participate in the California WaterFix  
will make it very difficult for other agencies to participate,” Tom  
Birmingham, the General Manager of Westlands, told the Los Angeles  
Times.

Delta Tunnels opponents are very pleased with the Westlands decision.

"Today is a very good day for California,” said Barbara Barrigan- 
Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, in a statement. “By  
rejecting California WaterFix, the Westlands Water District has dealt  
a blow to the project. There are many better solutions for creating a  
sustainable water supply in California.”

She noted that Metropolitan Water District's math used to justify the  
construction of the project is based on a “sizable contribution from  
Westlands,” as is the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s math.

“They now have to come up with a lot more money for the Delta  
Tunnels," Barrigan-Parrilla stated. “It won't pencil out for them  
either.”

The Westlands vote against the tunnels is not the only victory in the  
campaign to stop the project today.  The Los Angeles City Council  
Energy and Environmental Committee also voted no for the Delta Tunnels  
project -- “until the project is fully financed and Metropolitan Water  
District meets all their considerations,” according to RTD.

Yesterday, over 40 ratepayers drew significant media attention by  
holding a No Tunnels, No Water Rate Hike rally in front of Los Angeles  
City Hall.

Rally and meeting participants included representatives of Food &  
Water Watch, Consumer Watchdog, Union de Vecinos, Restore the Delta,  
Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Concerned Citizens of Compton, Southern  
California Watershed Alliance, Sierra Club Angeles Water Committee,  
March and Rally-LA, People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER), and  
Ground Game LA, neighborhood council leaders and faith leaders.

“The Delta Tunnels would raise water rates and property taxes in Los  
Angeles, costing ratepayers a total of $2.5 to $4 billion,” said  
Brenna Norton of Food and Water Watch. “These massive tunnels would  
change the way water is diverted from the Bay Delta and would send  
additional water to corporate agribusinesses in the Central Valley,  
while Southern California ratepayers pay more for no additional water.”

Norton said the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has endorsed  
this rate hike, which would be imposed by the Metropolitan Water  
District, even though it plans to reduce water imports from the Delta.

Also today, the Santa Clara Valley Water District in San Jose voted to  
pass a "no regrets package" planning $100 million for 9 different  
projects like stormwater capture, leak repair and gray water, RTD  
stated.

Delta Tunnels opponents are urging people to show up for their public  
meeting on September 26th to tell them to vote no on the project.

On Monday, the Associated Press revealed that "dozens of water  
agencies and millions of families and farmers would be on the hook”  
for building the Delta Tunnels. AP obtained new documents from  
Westlands — and confirmed the expanded funding demands in phone and  
email interviews with state and local water officials: https://apnews.com/712b5954fa3a4b4e9494cbbadefa6575/APNewsBreak:-Millions-of-Californians-on-hook-for-water-plan

Also on Monday, the California Indian Water Commission joined three  
environmental groups — the California Water Impact Network,  
AquAlliance and California Sportfishing Protection Alliance — in  
filing a legal challenge to the financing of the Delta Tunnels.

A recent landmark 9th Circuit ruling that federally reserved Indian  
water rights have precedent over all state and federal water rights  
puts a new twist on how much water there really will be available for  
the tunnels or any other project — and could put a big wrench in state  
and federal plants to build the massive 35 mile long tunnels under the  
Delta. For more information, go to www.indybay.org/...

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20170919/f306dba5/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: district-map-2014-11-10a.png
Type: image/png
Size: 23009 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20170919/f306dba5/attachment.png>