California's Delta Tunnels: An Unnecessary $15 billion, 15-Year Jobs Program

Last weekend as my husband and I were enjoying vin rouge and fromage at one of our favorite Delta wineries in Clarksburg, CA, we discussed Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed Delta Tunnels project, and how it would destroy the historical, rich agricultural region. Some of our favorite wineries, and all of the Delta agriculture could end up under water and/or the land rendered useless if Gov. Jerry Brown's unnecessary Delta Tunnels project is actually built. The tunnels project proponents claim it is needed to deliver significantly more, better quality water to Southern California cities and Central Valley farms, and deliver water more reliably--at an original cost estimate of more than $26 billion. When it became evident that the excessive cost was a bad deal for ratepayers as well as the Delta, Gov. Jerry Brown and his appointed water cronies scaled back the project to a single tunnel and a $15 billion price tag in an effort to keep his legacy project alive. However, a single-tunnel would deliver only two-thirds of the water the twin-tunnel project promised.