California Gov. Jerry Brown has enlisted a Washington senior statesman to help his massive, $15.7 billion water tunnel proposal clear regulatory and financial hurdles, officials said Thursday.

Since June 22, the state has paid former Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt $10,305 a month to advise senior administration officials on the project.

Brown wants a number of local water agencies to pay for building two, 35-mile tunnels to carry water from the Sacramento River under the delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and on to water contractors, primarily in Central and Southern California.