February 4, 2020
Ms. Renee Rodriguez
California Department of Water Resources
P.O. Box 942836
Sacramento, CA 94236
Subject: Support for Delta Conveyance Project – Scoping Comments
On behalf of Inland Action, I am pleased to provide comments for the scoping process of the single-tunnel Delta conveyance project being advanced by the California Department of Water Resources. Inland Action is a nonprofit organization of business and community leaders dedicated to the economic and community betterment of the Southern California region. Governor Newsom’s leadership to help ensure safe, affordable, and reliable water supplies to much of California is appreciated.
More than 30 percent of Southern California’s water supply comes from the Sierra Nevada and provides the backbone water supply for millions of people, our $1.6 trillion economy, farms, and our environment. Modernizing and upgrading our state’s aging infrastructure with a single tunnel, properly sized to convey 6,000 cubic-feet-per-second of water supply for the State Water Project, will allow us to more efficiently move water, restore the Delta ecosystem, and manage our water supply through climate extremes.
Inland Action is not alone in its support. There is widespread backing for the project in Southern California and throughout the State from diverse and prominent interests, ranging from labor and business to public agencies, nonprofits, and agriculture. We all recognize that a severe water shortage would come with an enormous economic cost, and the time to move forward is now.
This project is not the only step we must take to ensure water resiliency. Ensuring Southern California has a reliable water supply in the future requires a diverse portfolio of both imported and local supplies and conservation. Much progress and significant investments are being made on a wide range of local projects and water efficiency, but the Delta conveyance project remains vitally important.
We support the Newsom administration’s work to move forward in the planning process in a manner that achieves the goals of water supply reliability and ecosystem restoration. With our largest and most affordable supply at risk, we need the reliability the proposed Delta conveyance project will provide.
Sincerely,
Deborah Barmack
President
1601 E. Third St., Suite 138, San Bernardino, CA 92408 | Tel. 909-457-2830 | www.InlandAction.com