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

Future water price, availability in question

Coalition response…Water is a statewide issue and its availability affects public water agencies in multiple ways, as pointed out by the author. Sometimes local water suppliers take a position on a measure that fails to fully reflect the needs of all users throughout California. Such is the position taken by the San Diego County Water Authority and a few others who endorse the construction of a single tunnel through the Delta rather than a larger, more useful facility.

A single tunnel, with a capacity of 3,000 cubic feet per second, would reduce the amount of water available for many San Joaquin Valley farmers by a third; leaving about 750,000 acres with no water supply in a normal year. This is a size that is equivalent to three times the acreage of the city of San Diego. Further impacts on San Joaquin Valley food producers can be found at https://farmwater.org/BDCP-NRDC_alt.pdf.

A twin-tunnel proposal currently under consideration by the Bay Delta Conservation Plan has a capacity to move 9,000 cubic feet per second of water. This supply would provide the contracted amount of water by users while protecting existing water rights, meaning the water currently used by farmers and others in the Delta watershed would be preserved.