In an insightful opinion piece published for Capitol Weekly, Bruce Reznik — executive director of Los Angeles Waterkeeper — calls on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to prioritize local water infrastructure over costly, outdated megaprojects like the Delta Conveyance Project and Sites Reservoir.
Reznik warns that both projects are expensive, energy-intensive, and environmentally harmful, threatening the already fragile Delta ecosystem and undermining efforts to restore salmon populations. “They are rooted in 20th Century thinking that downplays the risks of future climate extremes,” he writes.
Instead, Reznik champions smarter, more sustainable solutions like wastewater recycling, stormwater capture, and groundwater replenishment—strategies that are not only more cost-effective but also more dependable in the face of climate change. As precipitation becomes more erratic and disasters grow more frequent, large-scale water diversions could leave Southern California vulnerable.
The piece highlights Metropolitan’s new Climate Adaptation Plan as a framework for investing in local, reliable, and affordable water solutions essential to building a resilient future for California. Polling data from Restore the Delta shows that Californians are in full support of this strategy: voters overwhelmingly favor investing in local infrastructure over the Delta Tunnel, and see local water supplies as the best way to prepare for future disasters.
Read more from Bruce Reznik here.