Point of View: Twin Tunnels
LOS ANGELES, CA (FOX 11 Editorial) - It is patently clear, Governor Brown, that your bullet train is a monumental failure and a waste of billions.
Now you are pushing hard for another boondogle called the "WaterFix" Twin Tunnels Project that will leave taxpayers on the hook for more billions.
WaterFix is another legacy project that is supposed to stabilize water reserves in the Sacramento Delta.
This includes saving the Delta smelt, which are all but extinct anyway.
Some think the whole thing is a bit fishy.
The cost of 34 billion dollars, including debt service, will substantially increase our water bills with very little gain.
The problem is that most of the project just moves existing water around and does little to save the Delta environment or create new water.
In fact, WaterFix does not create one drop of new water that California so desperately needs, especially in times of drought.
Both taxpayer and environmental groups are against it.
They are in fact advocating a number of measures that make much more sense at a lower cost, like increasing surface storage including catch basins and reservoirs.
Further, they want to make desalination and recycling water a priority.
And finally, they want to strengthen delta levees, which would be a much more cost effective way to ensure water reliability and fresh water increases, rather than the twin tunnels project.
These alternative measures will not only secure our water supply, they will improve water quality, prevent pollution and create more jobs.
Our money should go to these crucial projects and not be wasted on new massive tunnels that only benefit special interests.
Californians deserve a plan that increases water supply while at the same time restoring the delta ecosystem.
Governor Brown, what you propose with WaterFix is not the answer.
Please abandon your Twin Tunnels boondoogle.
Spend our tax dollars on initiatives that will actually help solve our future water crisi.
I'd like to hear your point of view.
Thanks for listening.
What do you think? We want to hear from you about this P.O.V. segment. Share your thoughts in the comments section below or email me directly at POV@fox11.com.
Bob Cook,
Vice President and General Manager
KTTV-TV, FOX 11 News
The views expressed are not necessarily those of the station or its employees.
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