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California Touts Desalination, But Take It With A Grain Of Salt

/in , /by /Bloomberg Environmentby Emily C. Dooley

Slimming down a $17 billion plan to shunt water from Northern California to the arid south has the state considering ways to supplement water needs. Desalination is one of the methods getting some attention. California has a water problem, drought or no drought. The new administration has signaled a shift in water policy by specifically talking about turning salty water potable after Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) said he would support only a single tunnel as part of the project known as WaterFix, rather than the two tunnels his predecessor pushed for to bring water to the state’s southern half.

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Stanford Experts Discuss Impacts Of Downsizing The Delta Twin Tunnels Project

/in , /by /Stanford Newsby Michelle Horton

California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced this week his plan to downsize the Delta twin tunnels project, a controversial $17 billion water conveyance system aimed at diverting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the Central Valley and Southern California. The tunnels are intended in part to reduce the impacts that massive pumps at the south end of the Delta currently have on Delta hydrology and ecosystems.

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Engineer: Twin Tunnels Project Could Endanger Vital Levees

/in , /by /KCRA 3 (Sacramento)by Kevin Oliver

At the peak of pear packing season, Daniel Wilson’s Sacramento County operation is bustling. Pears are sorted wrapped and prepared for shipments to stores across the country. “I get so buried in it, I don’t think about it too hard. We just go until we’re done,” Wilson said. It’s an operation that sits a few feet below sea level, so flooding is always in the back of Wilson’s mind. His orchards and packing plant is surrounded by levees. “If you look, all the equipment is up high and that’s why,” Wilson explained, adding, “100 percent of what we farm is protected by levees anywhere from five feet below sea level (to) five feet above sea level. If the levees break, we’re out of business.”

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Gavin Newsom Says He Would Scale Back The Bullet Train And Twin Tunnels If Elected

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby George Skelton

If Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is elected governor as expected, he’ll keep building the state’s two contentious public works projects: the bullet train and twin water tunnels. But he’ll scale back both. He’ll be more cautious, realistic and practical about the super-expensive projects than termed-out Gov. Jerry Brown.Newsom will concentrate on completing a high-speed rail line from the San Joaquin Valley to the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Suit Says State Council Favored Twin Tunnels Over Restoring Delta

/in , /by /The Independant (Livermore)by Ron McNicoll

A coalition of environmental groups has sued the California Delta Stewardship Council (CDSC) over what they say are violations of law affecting Delta environment restoration. The suit was filed May 25 in Sacramento Superior Court, where headquarters for the council are located. The plaintiffs include the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the River, Center for Food Safety, Sierra Club California, Planning and Conservation League and Restore the Delta.

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