| V The Cost of the Delta Tunnel Threatens SoCal’s Water Future – Doug Obegi, NRDC 10/30/20 The IRP is intended to be a road map that will guide Met’s investments over the next 25 years, helping the Board of Directors to make choices about how to plan to meet demand for water in an environmentally responsible and cost-effective way… But Met’s tunnel vision—and its failing business model—threaten the investments necessary for that more sustainable future… The Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California should not approve spending additional money for designing the Delta tunnel in December, and the Board should wait to make these important funding decisions until after the IRP process is complete. Now is not the time to approve tens of millions of dollars in additional unbudgeted expenses that could increase rates, particularly for a project that doesn’t seem to pencil out and that threatens the funding needed to invest in sustainable water supply projects for Southern California. DELTA CONVEYANCE: METROPOLITAN COMMITTEE DISCUSSES FUNDING PLANNING COSTS, HOW TO ACCOUNT FOR PROJECT BENEFITS, AND WHO IS IN AND WHO IS OUT – Maven’s Notebook 11/4/20 At the October meeting of Metropolitan’s Bay-Delta Committee, staff continued preparing the committee members for the upcoming decision on funding the planning costs for the Delta Conveyance Project which is anticipated to be before the full board at the December meeting. Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director, Restore the Delta, says… We are still digesting what is happening. But let’s be clear. Tens of millions of dollars is being “refunded” by California Department of Water Resources, to the Metropolitan Water District, for “tunnel planning” which sounds like a slush fund found in a huge taxpayer piggy bank. We need answers. |