Wednesday June 28, 2023
CalMatters —
It’s gone by several names: Peripheral Canal, Water Fix and Delta Conveyance.
Its design has changed several times, from a canal to twin tunnels and most recently a single tunnel.
However, its purpose has been unchanged for seven decades – bypassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as water is moved from Northern California to San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California homes.
Likewise, the fierce disagreement over whether it would rescue the Delta from environmental deterioration, as its advocates contend, or degrade it even further, as opponents maintain, has also remained unchanged.
This week, a new chapter in the project’s long and torturous history was written when legislators thwarted Gov. Gavin Newsom’s effort to partially exempt it, along with other major public works projects, from the California Environmental Quality Act.