Last week, during an Appropriations Committee write up, California Congressman Josh Harder proposed an amendment to stop the Delta Tunnel, a supposedly preferable alternative to the “Twin Tunnels,” a project that morphed out of Jerry Brown’s 1980s plan for the “Peripheral Canal.” Both the Peripheral Canal and Twin Tunnels proposals perished under heavy resistance from farmers, environmentalists, businesses and other Valley residents who all agreed the projects were nothing more than taxpayer-subsidized giveaways for the enrichment of southern San Joaquin Valley Agri-Giants and perpetually thirsty residents of Los Angeles and San Diego.
Having already drained the once seemingly infinite resources of the Colorado River and the San Joaquin Valley’s precious groundwater, the Agri-Giants and their partners to the south want more. They frequently argue that more water is needed for the crops that help feed the nation, but the truth is that most of the depletion of southern San Joaquin Valley groundwater came after Agri-Giants like Stewart Resnick planted permanent nut crops like almonds and pistachios, which demand water every year, as opposed to annual crops that were formerly planted only when there was sufficient surface water to grow them. As for the “feed the nation” argument, most of the nuts grown in the southern San Joaquin Valley are exported to foreign nations.
Calling the tunnel, “a $16 billion boondoggle,” Congressman Harder emphasized the threats the newly (re)named “Delta Conveyance Project” represents to taxpayers, Central Valley farmers, and the ecological welfare of the San Joaquin Delta, which supports farmers, fisheries, waterfowl and recreation for millions of California citizens.
Almost certainly because of opposition from Kevin McCarthy and other representatives heavily funded by Agri-Giants, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and other political and economic behemoths, Congressman Harder’s amendment to stop the Delta Tunnel failed. He’s not giving up, however.
Calling it “a zombie project” that Valley citizens have been killing “time and time again for 60 years,” Congressman Harder added that,
“There’s been a lot of conversation over the past couple of days about taxpayer spending. I think this is a perfect example of a boondoggle project with no benefits and an awful lot of costs…. It’s pegged at 16 billion… I think we’ve seen time and time again projects like this come way beyond budget and way beyond schedule. And it’s important to make sure that we stop this project before it begins.”
Already threatened by toxic algae blooms brought on by diversions of water to the south, the San Joaquin Delta is one of nature’s most bountiful regions, providing food and recreation for citizens throughout the nation. Diverting more water south also means contributing to rising salinity of groundwater near the Delta, a growing threat that only maintaining adequate freshwater flows to the Delta can abate.
Showing that he’s not afraid to invite the displeasure of power-playing politicians running the gamut from California Governor Gavin Newsom to Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, Josh Harder is doing the best he can to stop yet another southern California water grab. Given his past history of working tirelessly for his constituents in California Congressional Districts 9 and 10, Valley citizens can be assured he won’t let this setback prevent him from continuing to oppose a taxpayer-funded giveaway to southern California power brokers who’ve repeatedly shown an insatiable thirst that exhausts every resource of their own and then comes after everyone else’s.
It is refreshing, at least, to see the power brokers named. Tax payers are not interested in being fleeced some more. Nor are sane Californians and thirsty wildlife seeking more toxic algae, salinity, cement, and, trickle down water, faucets and ecosystems.
As for McCarthy, he never should have been House Speaker, he is as sinister as McConnell. And, I cannot be persuaded to think a Uniparty has not existed, for quite a while now. Therefore, I choose to remain Independent.
California Congressman Josh Harder seems legit on the Agri-Giants’ attempting to steal more water, any way they can. Let us call it what it really is. Theft!
Water is necessary for life, right here in this Valley, it should never be viewed as
a commodity to be wheeled and dealed by business monopolies and government.
Monopolies would not exist, in this day and age, without the support of gov’t. Let us call that what it really is. Collusion!
The problem is the proposed tunnel does not create more water storage, and more stored water is the real solution to the manmade CA water shortage. The vast majority of the state’s abundant water flows to the ocean. If we invest in substantially more water storage the “shortage” no longer exists and we also have more options for flood control and sites where hydropower can be built. That long term investment addresses 3 existing manmade crises: the supposed water shortage (the shortage is in inadequate storage), the obvious need for better and more flood mitigation, and the need to add clean renewable energy to the unreliable power grid.
Too expensive? How much is already being spent on catastrophic flood recovery? How many taxpayer dollars are going to “water conservation” when the long term solution is to capture and store substantially more water? How many consumers are spending beyond their budget as the cost of food understandably continues to increase as the Ag industry struggles with unreliable surface water delivery and entire communities suffer economically?
We need reform of the years-long process to get major projects approved. Every delay also increases the expense of building that project as costs continue to rise. Can we afford to wait 2 decades for every new dam/reservoir/flood control with hydropower? This could easily be considered an emergency, with direct impact on public health and safety.
Other reform is needed at the state and federal levels. “Environmental use” of our state’s water is the largest user of water by far, and continues to increase, too often disregarding the needs of the human population. That was not the intent when we voted in those laws decades ago. We wanted cleaner air, cleaner water, healthy forests … to sustain the environment and sustain the population that relies on that environment. Billions of dollars later we still have not achieved that objective. The more radical environmental voices have led us astray with regulations, policies, and programs that are not proven successful. One example of how reform can help is seeing the bigger picture of the decades of Save X projects that continue to fail yet continue to function and demand more water. Projects need to be justified and held accountable, and there must be better balance between “environmental needs” and human needs being addressed. Environmental group lawyers have been blocking the addition of larger water storage for decades, yet that same increased water storage would provide ample water for ALL users.
We need long term solutions, and we need to be proactive in providing those solutions.
The ‘money talks’ big 3 Agribusiness interests of the southern San Joaquin Valley, namely Resnick, J.G. Boswell Company and Vidovich (Sandridge Partners) must be made to cease and desist the 80% export, highly profitable yet water-unsustainable almond trees. Pistachios are next in line for water-unsustainability.
I totally agree that only annual crops (which land can be fallowed in dry years) are water-sustainable here.
Also, the overpumping of the (next to impossible to recharge because of the Corcoran Clay layer) regional aquifers by these Big 3 is causing irreparable land subsidence and badly hurts the smaller farmers (who can’t afford to dig yet deeper wells). We must bring the Big 3 to heel, lest their greed destroys the future of any agricultural crops in the area. Sustainable agriculture is tantamount here!