Newsom Inserts Tunnel Fast Track Into Budget

“Governor Newsom’s proposal to fast-track the costly and destructive Delta Tunnel Project in the state budget is a poorly conceived plan that the Legislature should reject,” State Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Stockton said.

“The Delta water tunnel is expected to cost at least $20 billion — and likely much more — and will destroy nearly 4,000 acres of prime farmland in the) fragile Delta, along with salmon fisheries and tribal resources. Plus, the tunnel’s costs would have to be shouldered by (Los Angeles area ratepayers who are already overburdened by skyrocketing utility bills.”

The 36-foot wide, 45-mile tunnel would divert water from the Sacramento River near Hood.

It would dump it into Clifton Forebay northwest of Tracy where it would be pumped into the California Aqueduct for delivery to Los Angeles basin water users and large corporate farms on the southwest portion of the San Joaquin Valley.

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