KQED - Governors Delta Plan Draws Critics from Bay Area Representatives
July 25, 2012
By Keith Menconi
Northern California members of Congress are firing back at Governor Jerry Brown's plan for a pair of tunnels to move water south from the Sacramento River.
A group of congressional representatives, including Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), spoke out Wednesday at a Capitol Hill news conference to urge the governor to delay the project until its full impact can be determined.
“I'm deeply disappointed that the governor chose to move forward with this plan without any input from the Delta communities,” said McNerney. “This will take valuable land away from farming, it will cost us millions of dollars in a region that's already hard-hit. It will cost countless jobs.”
The lawmakers warned that Northern Californian farmers and fishermen who depend on the delta could suffer.
The $14 billion plan calls for the construction of two thirty-three-foot wide tunnels beneath the Delta to carry water thirty-seven miles to pumps in Tracy. Farmers and water agencies south of the Delta would pay for that. State taxpayers would be on the hook for billions more to restore parts of the delta.
A group of congressional representatives, including Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez), and Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Mateo), spoke out Wednesday at a Capitol Hill news conference to urge the governor to delay the project until its full impact can be determined.
“I'm deeply disappointed that the governor chose to move forward with this plan without any input from the Delta communities,” said McNerney. “This will take valuable land away from farming, it will cost us millions of dollars in a region that's already hard-hit. It will cost countless jobs.”
The lawmakers warned that Northern Californian farmers and fishermen who depend on the delta could suffer.
The $14 billion plan calls for the construction of two thirty-three-foot wide tunnels beneath the Delta to carry water thirty-seven miles to pumps in Tracy. Farmers and water agencies south of the Delta would pay for that. State taxpayers would be on the hook for billions more to restore parts of the delta.