Trump Says NO to Brown Delta Tunnel Scam–Saves 10’s of Billions $$$
AGENDA 21 RADIO
Central Valley Business Times
- Federal government will not help pay for massive Delta water tunnels
- “The Trump administration did not fund the project”
The Trump Administration will not help pay for or support the massive project to drill water tunnels beneath the California Delta, a top Department of the Interior official says Wednesday.
The tunnels are being pushed by Gov. Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. and some customers of the State Water Project, most notably the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
But any hope of help from the Trump Administration to pay for the project, with its estimated $17-$67 billion price tag, or even support it, seems to have evaporated with a statement Wednesday from Interior Department deputy communications director Russell Newell.
“The Trump administration did not fund the project and chose to not move forward with it,” Mr. Newell said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times.
Mr. Brown had found support for his legacy project from the Obama administration.
One of the project’s long-standing opponents says the rejection by the Trump Administration is “another nail in the coffin for the project.”
“Water exporters have only pulled together about $6 billion in funding, and even a single … tunnel would start at $10-11 billion,” says Executive Director of Restore the Delta Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla. “In addition, it is highly unlikely that federal agencies will now sign off on the Record of Decision required to begin construction for the project.
“It is time for Governor Brown to get serious about solving California’s water problems with 21st century solutions. It is time for him to work with all people across the state to promote and create programs of regional self-sufficiency and to repair existing infrastructure.”
The project, if funding were ever found for it, would still need the go-ahead from the Interior Department. The department is under investigation for what appears to have been unauthorized spending of $84 million to help pay for planning the project.
