Gov. Jerry Brown trims giant water-tunnels project
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration scaled back the latest version of his four-decade effort to redo California’s north-south water system Wednesday, cutting plans to build giant water tunnels from two to one.
Reducing the number of tunnels — at least for now — would help California’s quest to line up enough funding and ease environmental concerns over tapping directly into the state’s largest river, officials said.
Supporters also hope the trimmed-down project will have a better chance of winning approval before the 79-year-old governor leaves office in January. The single tunnel still would be California’s biggest water project in decades.
The project would pipe water from Northern California’s Sacramento River through a four-story-high tunnel dozens of miles long. Los Angeles’ giant Metropolitan Water District has been the steadiest long-term supporter of both one tunnel or two, saying they would help secure water for its millions of urban customers.