California Delta Tunnels: The Project Is Flowing Along
Just a few month ago, the Delta Tunnels, dubbed the WaterFix, was sputtering due to a lack of funds and environmental hurdles. Governor Jerry Brown’s administration was forced to consider a phased-in approach that called for building one tunnel, followed by a second tunnel only if enough money became available. The tunnel project was… Read more »
Update: The Future of the California WaterFix and Delta Tunnels
After state officials said that they will press ahead with a scaled-down, $10.7-billion version of the long-planned Delta Tunnels, the massive two-tunnel project in the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is still a viable option, in large part, thanks to Southern California’s most powerful water agency. The decision to pursue a one-tunnel project that… Read more »
Update: Where is the California High-Speed Rail Project Headed?
Nine years after California voters narrowly approved a nearly $10-billion bond to launch the $64-billion statewide High-Speed Rail project, residents and officials are wondering where the project is headed in 2018 and beyond. The narrative being pushed by Gov. Brown and the rail authority is that the project is making steady advances. Opponents tell a… Read more »
High-Speed Rail To Face Audit After Rising Costs
California state lawmakers approved an audit request, made by a team of bipartisan politicians, of the state’s High-Speed Rail project after the projected costs for one segment rose by nearly $3 billion. Officials aim to understand whether the statewide infrastructure plan can be completed on deadline and without more dramatic cost increases. “As a… Read more »
Delta Tunnels Could Be Scaled to a One-Tunnel Project
Faced with scarce political support and incomplete funding from water agencies in California, Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration is proposing a scaled-back project to his original $17-billion proposal to build two massive tunnels under that Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that would make it easier to divert water from Northern to Southern California. Instead of two… Read more »
Some California Farms Safe From Eminent Domain – At Least For The Time Being
In series of blows, the twin tunnels – a project intended to remake the troubled San Joaquin estuary and improve water deliveries to the southern half of California – has been put into serious question. In a landmark vote, Silicon Valley’s largest water agency unanimously rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17.1 billion pet project. The… Read more »
Charges Over Improper Subsidies Could Make Delta Tunnels Dead In The Water
Opponents of the Delta tunnels project, who have been trying to stop the project based on environmental grounds, are now trying to kill it through its financial structure. This comes just after federal auditors says $50 million in taxpayer funds were used improperly to subsidize planning in the San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts. Through… Read more »
City Gives Go Ahead to the Army Corps of Engineers to Begin Restoration
A plan to have the Army Corps of Engineers alter the Los Angeles River for the purpose of ecosystem restoration was approved by a Los Angeles City Council committee. The $8.1-million approved plan is part of the larger $1.6-billion effort to revitalize an 11-mile stretch of the river and return it from the concrete channel… Read more »
County Officials, Environmentalists, and Farmers Rising to Oppose Twin Delta Tunnel Project
Butte County has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Water Resources over their “WaterFix” plan to bury a pair of tunnels underneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and move water from the Sacramento River to southern California. The county supervisors unanimously voted last month to file the lawsuit. The suit is based on a… Read more »
California High Speed Rail Project Dealt Major Setbacks
A recent environmental ruling overturned by the California Supreme Court and a last-minute deal made by Gov. Jerry Brown to extend his signature “cap-and-trade” climate program another 10 years ensures further complications for the planned $64-billion bullet train. In overturning the lower court’s ruling, the Supreme Court said federal law does not allow the… Read more »