cfs approach remains to be seen, as does the infl uence of alternative propos- als, such as the a single-bore tunnel conveying water at 3,000 cfs. Water contractors, such as Westlands’ Jason Peltier, want the BDCP to put them on a path to reliability and sustainability “We do not want the status quo; for us we do not want what we’ve had for 20 years,” Peltier said at ACWA. “Our bag of tricks is empty and we need an improvement and for those that think saving the Delta means maintaining the status quo … maintaining the status quo is not saving the Delta.” Water contractors see the BDCP as a logical improvement to a water delivery system that is more than a half-century old. “We are operating California’s


economy today with 1960s technol- ogy,” MWD General Manager Jeffrey Kightlinger told the ACWA audience. “This is going to be an obvious tech- nological improvement on the system … and if my board chooses to invest in this technological improvement for California, that’s a good thing.” While Gov. Brown pushed for full steam ahead on the BDCP, Senate Majority Leader Darrell Steinberg has suggested installing some safeguards to assuage some of the concerns about it. Speaking at ACWA, Steinberg said the 2014 water bond or a constitutional amendment could include language to “operationalize the rules of the game” for the tunnels. He also suggested amending the state constitution to achieve the same effect. Going forward, offi cials will have to contend with the opinions of people such as Garamendi, who speaks for many of his constituents in opposing the BDCP.


“California is once again embroiled


in a water war,” he wrote. “The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is not a com- prehensive plan; it is a plumbing system that seeks to extract water from one part of the state and deliver it to an- other part. If history is any indication, water wars are expensive and fruitless. Only by embracing a comprehensive plan that creates new water for the


May/June 2013


entire state can we avoid gridlock and a water war.” However, Arakawa said a “turn- ing point” has emerged regarding the future of the Delta and the current conveyance system because “there are people out there saying we have got to do something,” particularly those at the highest levels. The BDCP represents “a crossroads” in the history of the Delta “because we have leadership on the fed- eral and state side … saying we need to make a decision, and we need to take advantage of that.”


Laird, in a May 21 letter to The Sacramento Bee, noted PPIC’s fi nding that “although scientifi c understanding of the ecosystem has vastly improved, the Delta’s complexity makes uncer- tainty inevitable,” in calling for action. The BDCP “embraces that inevi- table uncertainty with applied science and robust monitoring to determine spring and fall Delta outfl ows, and the feedback loop of adaptive management to ensure that water project opera- tions do not interfere with the recov- ery of native fi sh populations,” Laird wrote. “That is a far surer path to clear understanding of Delta fl ows than do- ing nothing, which would risk species extinction and water supplies for much of California.”


The ultimate fate of the BDCP remains to be seen. Its approval will most certainly be met with litigation, delaying the time when shovels start moving dirt. Perhaps a compromise will emerge that is acceptable to the many interest groups that have pledged their energy and resources to the process. Or maybe Gov. Brown’s desire to cement his legacy and that of his father will be realized when the fi rst fl ood of water rushes through the tunnels.


However it unfolds, it is clear that the multitude of Delta problems that have prefaced the BDCP are complex, diffi cult, and occasionally frustrating. Water means everything to Califor- nia’s environment and economy and the co-equal goals notwithstanding, it is hard to fi nd a solution that is not perceived to come at the expense of one or the other. ❖


One of the main concerns of the opponents of the BDCP tunnels is the loss of prime farmland. Pears are a primary crop grown in the Hood/Courtland areas of the Delta where the three tunnel intakes would be built.


Read DWR’s fact sheet “BDCP: A 21st Century Strategy”


Watch the press conference about the release of the BDCP’s fi nal chapters


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