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Despite Some Opposition from Los Angeles, Giant Southern California Water Agency Approves Delta Tunnels Project

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee

Southern California’s powerful water agency committed more than $4 billion to the Delta tunnels Tuesday, giving the troubled plan a desperately needed vote of confidence. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board voted to pay for about a quarter of the tunnels project, Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17.1 billion effort to re-engineer the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and improve water deliveries to south state cities and farms. The vote was 69 percent to 22 percent under Metropolitan’s voting system, which gives more weight to the largest cities, with the rest abstaining.

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County Supervisors Join Brewing Legal Battle Against Feds Over Tijuana Sewage Spills

/in /by /Los Angeles Times

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to join the growing legal campaign to force the federal government to do more to stop sewage from spilling over the border from Tijuana that routinely fouls South Bay beaches. “Enough is enough,” Supervisor Greg Cox, whose district includes border region with Mexico, said in a statement. “We’ve exhausted all our efforts to resolve this terrible situation and it’s time we force those responsible to once and for all fix this problem.”

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Effort to Plug Tijuana Sewage Flows Gets $2.1 Million Bump From State Bill

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

The effort to prevent sewage from flowing from Tijuana into San Diego County got a small boost Monday when Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation to provide about $2.1 million in funds for the effort. Senate Bill 507, authored by state Sen. Ben Hueso, D-San Diego, and Assembly member Todd Gloria, D-San Diego, reallocates one-time funds previously designated for use by San Diego County under the Wildlife, Coastal and Park Land Conservation Act.

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Southern California Water Agency Approves Pitching in $4.3 Billion for Massive Delta Tunnels Project

/in /by /Los Angeles Times Mentioned: Michael Hogan

Southern California’s largest water agency Tuesday threw a lifeline to California WaterFix, approving a $4.3-billion buy-in to the water delivery project. The closely watched vote by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California board does not ensure the survival of the $17-billion project, which needs significant funding from other urban and agricultural water districts to move forward.

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Metropolitan Water District Backs $17 Billion Delta Water Tunnels in Key Vote

/in /by /Times of San Diego

The board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted Tuesday to support Gov. Jerry Brown’s much-debated plan to build two giant tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to shore up the state’s water supplies. The Los Angeles-based MWD, Southern California’s water wholesaler, agreed to commit $4.3 billion toward the $17 billion California WaterFix project, despite claims by critics that the project will drive up residents’ water bills as high as $16 a month. Approval of the project ultimately lies with the state’s water boards, and if enough water districts do not vote to fund the tunnels, they will not be built.

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Los Angeles Mayor on Jerry Brown’s Tunnels Plan: Just Build One

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti came out Tuesday against Gov. Jerry Brown’s twin Delta tunnels project to carry water southward, saying he preferred just one tunnel. Speaking at the Sacramento Press Club, the Democrat said he told the governor that he was taking the “Jerry Brown approach,” meaning making the correct, not the expedient, policy decision.

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Once Again, Southern California Could Make or Break a Major California Water Project

/in /by /The Sacramento Bee Quoted: Michael Hogan

In 1960, the water barons of Los Angeles stood between Gov. Pat Brown and his dream of building a network of dams and canals to make the southern half of California bloom. He beat them – just barely, after weeks of public arm-twisting – and the State Water Project was born. Now Brown’s son, the current Gov. Jerry Brown, is calling on Southern California to support another massive water project – the Delta tunnels, a controversial plan aimed at fixing the system his father helped build.

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Scientists Foresee Major Change in Rainfall Patterns Across California

/in /by /The San Diego Union-Tribune

Unprecedented amounts of rain fell across Northern California last winter, ending a damaging drought that reached to the southern edges of San Diego County. The dramatic turnaround was highlighted by a series of powerful, river-like storms that might become more frequent in the future. That’s the thinking of many scientists, including Marty Ralph, director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Scripps researcher Alexander “Sasha” Gershunov. Ralph and Gershunov put the past and future in perspective during a discussion with the Union-Tribune.

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Water Wholesaler Poised To Vote On Delta Tunnel Plan

/in /by /KPBSby Erik Anderson

The Metropolitan Water District Board in Los Angeles is scheduled to take a crucial vote Tuesday on whether to support a plan to build two massive tunnels underneath the Sacramento Delta. The $17 billion project promises to help maintain the flow of water from the state water project by easing pressure on endangered fish populations in the delta. Three new water intakes on the Sacramento River north of the delta would work in conjunction with the existing pump at the southern end of the delta.

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$17 billion Delta Water Tunnels Project Faces Critical MWD Vote Tuesday In LA

/in /by /Los Angeles Daily Newsby Steve Scauzillo Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

After 11 years of planning, a massive tunnels project touted as a solution to the state’s vulnerable water supply faces its biggest test  Tuesday. The 38-member board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California — the largest supplier of treated water in the United States delivering water to agencies serving 19 million people — is scheduled to vote on the $17 billion California WaterFix.

 

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