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Garamendi’s Letter to 3rd District Water Leaders on Delta Tunnels Public Comment

October 28, 2015

WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman John Garamendi (D-Fairfield, CA), the former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Interior Department, today sent a letter to water leaders in the 3rd District about the upcoming deadline for public comment on the Delta water tunnels. The text is below:

Hello friends,

As you may know, Governor Jerry Brown has proposed two massive twin tunnels to run through the heart of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. It's inaccurately named the "California WaterFix," but in reality, it's a multi-billion boondoggle that won't create a drop of new water for California.

Comments to Delta tunnel proponents are due this Friday, October 30, 2015. Comments can be submitted to BDCP/WaterFix Comments, P.O. Box 1919, Sacramento, CA 95812 or by email to BDCPComments@icfi.com.

If constructed, the twin tunnels will harm water flows in the Sacramento River, which is the main supply of fresh water in the Delta and the entire San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary. The Delta helps preserve more than 500,000 acres of agricultural land and provides fresh water for millions of Northern California residents. It is also an essential habitat for many species of fish and waterfowl.

If we allow the Delta to be drained by a massive new plumbing system, it will put at risk many Delta jobs and forever change the Delta's culture and quality of life.

We must do better. With investments in water recycling, conservation, and storage, we can make California's water delivery system work better for the entire state while protecting our fragile Delta. These investments are the foundation of my Water Plan for All California, which you can read at https://www.garamendi.house.gov/water, and they were the foundation for the Proposition 1 water bond that Californians overwhelmingly embraced. In public comment, I will be encouraging Governor Brown to scrap the twin tunnels and invest in the water infrastructure that can unite the state in support of systems that better prepare us for future droughts and floods.

Thank you for reading. Again, the deadline to submit public comment is this Friday, October 30th. Comments can be submitted to BDCP/WaterFix Comments, P.O. Box 1919, Sacramento, CA 95812 or by email to BDCPComments@icfi.com.

Sincerely,
Congressman John Garamendi