So with 40% of Santa Clara’s supplies being conveyed through the Delta, whether or not to sign on to the California Water Fix is an important decision that will be coming before the board.
The California Water Fix is the state’s proposal to improve the water supply reliability of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project and improve the Delta ecosystem.
Staff is studying the proposal to determine whether or not it protects the economic viability of the County, whether the District’s State Water Project and Central Valley Project contracts and existing supplies are protected, whether costs are allocated equitably, and whether the participating contractors who pay for the project will receive the benefits.
The Water Fix can potentially improve the ability to move our State Water Project supplies across the Delta, but to get the water from the Delta to our county on the state side, we need the South Bay Aqueduct.
There are discussions on how to go about constructing a framework that can provide for that on the CVP side and the SWP side.” Director Le Zotte asks, “So if you’re a non participant and you don’t participate in the construction of the tunnels, what would you’re not being harmed be … ?” “The discussions are still in flux but currently the concept is that the project will be integrated with the existing State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations,” replied Ms. Kao.
“How do we get less water?
Whether they say it’s 1 MAF or whatever, we’re still going to be getting a certain amount of water here that we paid for.” “If we take no action, then under the water supply contract, our delivered water, our allocated water can go down, depending upon what the regulatory criteria are in the future and what the state of the Delta is,” said Ms. Kao.
Tell me more about the reliability of the State Water Project.
So the Delta decision is just one decision amongst many that we’re going to be making about our water portfolio.” “Sometimes I hear comments from the public that suggest we should be focusing on lower cost solutions in terms of our water supply and I think that for many of us, including myself, when we look at that big dollar figure, it seems like the Water Fix is a very expensive project,” continued Director Keegan.
I work for you, and I’m going to make sure our Board does the same thing.