<html><head></head><body><div class="ydp8fa9a471yahoo-style-wrap" style="font-family:garamond, new york, times, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><span><div data-role="close-tray" class="ydp5835c3d5paywall" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5wrapper ydp5835c3d5clearfix ydp5835c3d5full ydp5835c3d5pb-feature ydp5835c3d5pb-layout-item ydp5835c3d5pb-f-article-header" data-pb-name="Article Header" data-pb-curated="curated" id="ydp5835c3d5f4I3D42XrdhThr"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content ydp5835c3d5align-left" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><h1 class="ydp5835c3d5spaced ydp5835c3d5spaced-xl ydp5835c3d5spaced-top ydp5835c3d5spaced-bottom" style="margin: 32px 0px; font-family: FBKisDisplay; font-weight: 400; line-height: 48px; font-size: 44px;"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-skelton-delta-tunnels-newsom-20190219-story.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" class="">https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-skelton-delta-tunnels-newsom-20190219-story.html</a><br></h1><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><h1 class="ydp5835c3d5spaced ydp5835c3d5spaced-xl ydp5835c3d5spaced-top ydp5835c3d5spaced-bottom" style="margin: 32px 0px; font-family: FBKisDisplay; font-weight: 400; line-height: 48px; font-size: 44px;">Brown was obsessed with twin-tunnel vision. Newsom has a more realistic view</h1></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-footer ydp5835c3d5flex-container-row ydp5835c3d5flex-mobile-column ydp5835c3d5align-items-center" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px; border-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 12px 24px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5byline-container ydp5835c3d5flex-container-row ydp5835c3d5align-items-center" style="padding-right: 8px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5hidden-mobile ydp5835c3d5spaced ydp5835c3d5spaced-right ydp5835c3d5spaced-sm" style="margin-right: 8px;"></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5byline-timestamp-container ydp5835c3d5flex-container-row ydp5835c3d5flex-tablet-column ydp5835c3d5flex-mobile-column ydp5835c3d5align-items-center"><div class="ydp5835c3d5byline-wrapper" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="ydp5835c3d5byline ydp5835c3d5byline-article" style="font-family: Benton Bold; line-height: 12px; font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px;">By <a class="ydp5835c3d5uppercase" href="https://www.latimes.com/lanews-george-skelton-20130507-staff.html#nt=byline" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 12px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); text-transform: uppercase;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="ydp5835c3d5uppercase">GEORGE SKELTON</span></a></span></div><span class="ydp5835c3d5spaced ydp5835c3d5spaced-right ydp5835c3d5spaced-md ydp5835c3d5hidden-mobile" style="margin-right: 16px;"></span><div class="ydp5835c3d5timestamp-wrapper ydp5835c3d5flex-container-row ydp5835c3d5align-items-center ydp5835c3d5flex-mobile-column" style="line-height: normal;"><div><span class="ydp5835c3d5timestamp ydp5835c3d5timestamp-article" style="font-family: Benton Medium; line-height: 12px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase;">FEB 18, 2019 </span><span class="ydp5835c3d5timestamp ydp5835c3d5spaced ydp5835c3d5spaced-sm ydp5835c3d5spaced-left ydp5835c3d5spaced-right ydp5835c3d5hidden-tablet" style="font-family: Benton Medium; line-height: 12px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;">|</span> <span class="ydp5835c3d5timestamp ydp5835c3d5timestamp-article ydp5835c3d5hidden-tablet" style="font-family: Benton Medium; line-height: 12px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 12px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase;">12:05 AM </span></div><div><span class="ydp5835c3d5timestamp ydp5835c3d5spaced ydp5835c3d5spaced-sm ydp5835c3d5spaced-left ydp5835c3d5spaced-right ydp5835c3d5hidden-mobile" style="font-family: Benton Medium; line-height: 12px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px;">|</span> <span class="ydp5835c3d5timestamp" style="font-family: Benton Medium; line-height: 12px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153); font-size: 10px; letter-spacing: 1px; text-transform: uppercase;">SACRAMENTO</span></div></div></div></div><span class="ydp5835c3d5sharebar ydp5835c3d5align-right ydp5835c3d5flex" style="text-align: right;"><button class="ydp5835c3d5button ydp5835c3d5button-icon ydp5835c3d5button-icon-hover-accent" data-arctrack="socialShareTwtr" data-referrer="" style="margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-family: Benton Bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px; min-height: 40px;"><span class="ydp5835c3d5fa ydp5835c3d5fa-twitter ydp5835c3d5button-icon-inset-accent" style="display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwesome; width: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89); min-height: 32px;"></span></button> <button class="ydp5835c3d5button ydp5835c3d5button-icon ydp5835c3d5button-icon-hover-accent" data-arctrack="socialShareFb" data-referrer="" data-href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-skelton-delta-tunnels-newsom-20190219-story.html" style="margin: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; line-height: 40px; font-family: Benton Bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 40px; min-height: 40px;"><span class="ydp5835c3d5fa ydp5835c3d5fa-facebook-square ydp5835c3d5button-icon-inset-accent" style="display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwesome; width: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89); min-height: 32px;"></span></button> <a class="ydp5835c3d5button ydp5835c3d5button-icon ydp5835c3d5button-icon-hover-accent" href="mailto:?subject=Brown%20was%20obsessed%20with%20twin-tunnel%20vision.%20Newsom%20has%20a%20more%20realistic%20view&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fpolitics%2Fla-pol-sac-skelton-delta-tunnels-newsom-20190219-story.html" data-arctrack="socialShareEmail" data-referrer="" style="cursor: pointer; font-family: Benton Bold; line-height: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 16px; text-transform: uppercase; border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; text-align: center; width: 40px; min-height: 40px;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span class="ydp5835c3d5fa ydp5835c3d5fa-share ydp5835c3d5button-icon-inset-accent" style="display: inline-block; font-stretch: normal; line-height: 32px; font-family: FontAwesome; width: 32px; color: rgb(255, 104, 89); min-height: 32px;"></span></a></span></div></div></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5pb-container"></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5wrapper ydp5835c3d5clearfix ydp5835c3d5full ydp5835c3d5pb-feature ydp5835c3d5pb-layout-item ydp5835c3d5pb-f-utilities-lead-art" data-pb-name="Lead Art" data-pb-curated="curated" id="ydp5835c3d5f0MUVW5XrdhThr" style="margin-top: 0px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5card-captioned"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5full-width ydp5835c3d5img-container ydp5835c3d5aspect-ratio-no-aspect" style="width: 500px; min-height: 281.3333435058594px;"><img class="ydp5835c3d5full-width" alt="Brown was obsessed with twin-tunnel vision. Newsom has a more realistic view" src="https://www.latimes.com/resizer/NZyPOgqdciAj7H4e9YHe-sc2Z4o=/800x0/www.trbimg.com/img-5c699934/turbine/la-1550424364-pcnnx1cz5l-snap-image" style="border: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; max-width: 800px;" data-inlineimagemanipulating="true"></div><div>A sign opposing a proposed tunnel plan to ship water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California is displayed near Freeport, Calif., in 2016. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)</div></div></div></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5wrapper ydp5835c3d5clearfix ydp5835c3d5full ydp5835c3d5pb-feature ydp5835c3d5pb-layout-item ydp5835c3d5pb-f-article-body" data-pb-name="Article Body (Elements)" data-pb-curated="curated" id="ydp5835c3d5f0aYpgiXrdhThr" style="margin-top: 0px;"><div></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5collection ydp5835c3d5collection-cards" style="list-style: none; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p data-page="1" style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">A potential grand compromise to settle a decades-long water fight has been obvious for years but blown off. Now Gov. Gavin Newsom is forcing all combatants to consider it seriously.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">California’s water future hinges on the ultimate deal.</p></div></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5trb_ar_ora" style="max-width: 400px; margin: 24px auto;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5trb_ar_ora_w" style="position: relative; padding-top: 300px;"></div></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5teads-adCall"></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">The battle has been over whether to bore <a href="https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-mwd-delta-tunnels-20180402-story.html" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">two monster water tunnels</a> under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta or to build none at all. The solution: Duh. One tunnel.</p></div></div><div class="ydp5835c3d5desktop-nativo ydp5835c3d5mobile-yieldmo ydp5835c3d5inline-ad" data-inline-ad-count="2" style="margin: 16px 0px 22px;"><span class="ydp5835c3d5hidden-mobile"><div class="ydp5835c3d5wrapper ydp5835c3d5clearfix ydp5835c3d5full ydp5835c3d5pb-feature ydp5835c3d5pb-layout-item ydp5835c3d5pb-f-ads-nativo" data-pb-name="Nativo Ad" data-pb-curated="curated" id="ydp5835c3d5f00bebxhnJtrir" style="text-align: center; margin-top: 0px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5hidden-mobile"><div id="ydp5835c3d514849" data-nativo-id-desktop="1081114" class="ydp5835c3d5desktop-nativo-ad ydp5835c3d5trb_ar_nt"></div></div></div></span></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-governor-gavin-newsom-state-of-the-state-20190212-story.html" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Newsom decreed</a> one tunnel as the likely sweet spot for a deal last week in delivering his first State of the State address.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">It’s an answer neither side particularly likes but seems resigned to reluctantly accept.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“Sometimes when you come up with an idea that nobody likes it’s a fair compromise, and sometimes it just means it’s a bad idea,” says Jeffrey Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">The MWD is the twin-tunnel project’s principal backer — aside from former Gov. Jerry Brown — and it’s biggest bankroller.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“I can’t imagine us walking away from one tunnel just because it doesn’t work as well as two tunnels,” Kightlinger says.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">On the other side is a coalition of delta farmers, local communities, environmentalists and northerners who fear a “water grab” by big cities, especially in Southern California, and by San Joaquin Valley corporate farmers.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“We’re delta people and we don’t like tunnels,” says Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. “Our plan is a ‘no tunnel’ plan.</p></div></div><div data-type="interstitial_link" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><span class="ydp5835c3d5roadblock"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/lanews-george-skelton-20130507-staff.html" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 32px; color: rgb(80, 172, 205); font-size: 19px; font-weight: 400;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">More from George Skelton »</a></span></span></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“But I swore under oath at a state water board hearing that we would evaluate any new project with fresh eyes. One tunnel can still cause a tremendous amount of damage. But we have to see what type is proposed and what the design is.”</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Later, in a statement that was striking for conciliation — a rarity in today’s polarized politics — Barrigan-Parrilla urged tunnel opponents to cool it before they start attacking Newsom’s peace offering.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“Let’s breathe and be grateful,” she said. “After more than 12 years of daily combat with two prior governors, Gov. Newsom heard us. That is huge…. We matter…. This is a major shift in the water narrative of California.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“Expecting a California governor, who must represent the interests of all its people, to pick one side only in California’s ongoing water battles is simply unrealistic.… He is not going to alienate a sizable and powerful water industry.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“Dance, sing, have a few drinks and celebrate.”</p></div></div><div data-type="interstitial_link" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><span class="ydp5835c3d5roadblock"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/essentialpolitics" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 32px; color: rgb(80, 172, 205); font-size: 19px; font-weight: 400;" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Coverage of California politics »</a></span></span></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">That style of candor and pragmatism has become an endangered species in Sacramento and Washington, although Newsom seems to be trying to salvage some semblance of it.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">In his State of the State address, the new governor might have been a tad naïve when he declared: “We have to get past the old binaries, like farmers versus environmentalists, or North versus South.”</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Good luck trying to coax valley farmers and coastal fishing interests into singing “Kumbaya.” The more delta water is delivered to crops, the less there is for struggling salmon.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Newsom used his speech to pare back both of Brown’s signature legacy projects: <a href="https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-sac-skelton-newsom-state-of-the-state-high-speed-rail-20190214-story.html" style="background-color: transparent; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">the $77-billion bullet train</a> and $17-billion twin tunnels. He could have let both linger for a while but decided to clear the air soon after taking office.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">He asserted “there simply isn’t a path” financially to lay tracks from Los Angeles to San Francisco, as planned, and announced he’ll focus on completing a high-speed rail line between Merced and Bakersfield. He objected to calling it a “train to nowhere.”</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">On the delta, he said: “I do not support the Water Fix” — Brown’s name for the project — “as currently configured. Meaning, I do not support the twin tunnels…. I do support a single tunnel. The status quo is not an option.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">“Our approach can’t be ‘either/or.’ It must be ‘yes/and.’ Conveyance and efficiency. And recycling projects like we’re seeing in Southern California’s [MWD], expanding floodplains in the Central Valley, groundwater recharge like farmers are doing in Fresno County. We need a portfolio approach to building water infrastructure.”</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">The price tag for a single tunnel is estimated at $11 billion, paid for by water users.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">At the heart of the water fight has been whether the delta should be treated as a unique wildlife estuary, recreational haven and small farming community, or a plumbing fixture. A 2009 law says it should be managed as both. But that seems an impossible needle to thread. And power politics has always favored the plumbing fixture.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">The delta supplies water for 25 million people and 3 million acres of cropland. Giant pumps at the delta’s southern end feed aqueducts, reversing river flow and confusing small salmon headed to the ocean. The fish often get gobbled up by lurking predators or the pumps. So the pumps sometimes are shut down, angering farmers.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Brown’s solution was to dig two 35-mile, 40-foot-wide tunnels from the delta’s north end, carrying fresh Sacramento River water under the estuary directly to the aqueducts. Don’t run the pumps so much.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Opponents complained this would rob the interior delta of fresh water needed for people, crops and fish — not to mention the chaotic mucky mess created by a decade of tunnel burrowing in this bucolic backwater.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">But one tunnel might be more tolerable. Would one work?</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Better than none, say valley and southern water interests.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item" style="line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px 24px 0px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">It depends on the tunnel size and how it’s operated, both sides say.</p></div></div><div data-type="text" class="ydp5835c3d5card ydp5835c3d5collection-item ydp5835c3d5card-border-bottom ydp5835c3d5card-border-bottom-thick ydp5835c3d5card-border-bottom-dark" style="border-width: 4px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); line-height: 19px;"><div class="ydp5835c3d5card-content" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 26px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 18px; padding: 24px;"><p style="line-height: 26px; margin: 0px;">Brown was obsessed with twin-tunnel vision. Newsom has a more realistic view.</p></div></div></div></div></div></span></div></div></body></html>