From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Unanswered questions in water tunnels analysis

Coalition response…The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is an effort to obtain a 50-year conservation permit that will improve the Delta through habitat restoration and protection of species. This environmental permit should also improve water supply deliveries to about 4,000 farms and 25 million Californians. This author fails to recognize the importance of a dependable supply of water. For farmers, this means they will not be forced to abandon their fields following planting after learning their water supply will be reduced. It also means that the safe and healthy food supply farmers provide to consumers will continue.

Comparing the proposed tunnels to the Peripheral Canal of 1982 is an effort that is absent in facts. Capacity of the tunnels is only 9,000 cubic feet per second and the canal would have transported 21,800 cfs. Learn more about the differences at www.farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf.

The $84 billion identified in the cost-benefit analysis is a statewide number, not one that will benefit only one region and not the next. The up and down fluctuations in California’s economy is felt throughout our state and an $84 billion boost will be felt by all.

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