Will Peripheral Canal Be Considered After the August Recess?

By Steve Evans
Conservation Director
Friends of the River

The controversial Peripheral Canal may or may not be included in a package of water bills that the Legislature expects to take up after its arduous budget battle and the August recess. The water package will likely propose an appointed council or water master to manage water operations, provide overall direction for ecosystem restoration, and attempt to implement the Governor’s goal of reducing water use by 20%. Some capitol insiders claim that the package will not expressly authorize the giant canal, which will divert massive quantities of fresh water around the beleaguered estuary for export to the southern Central Valley and southern California.
It is also unclear whether this initial water package will include funding mechanisms, either in the form of a proposed multi-billion dollar general obligation bond (essentially borrowing money in the name of the taxpayers) and/or water fees. The cost of a Peripheral Canal could be at least $10 billion. New or enlarged dams needed to supply water to the canal will cost billions more. Funding is usually the key to California’s convoluted water politics since the typical goal is to get the taxpayers to pay for the water from which only a few benefit...Read more.