From Lloyd Carter at the Chronicles of the Hydraulic Brotherhood blog:
“Westlands Water District directors Wednesday (Nov. 21) hosted a workshop on the controversial Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and were told by California Department of Water Resources (DWR) officials the big federal water district in western Fresno and Kings counties may have to pony up $162 million over the next three years for pre-construction planning.
DWR Director Mark Cowin told Westlands directors DWR will need $500 million over the next three years to finance pre-construction engineering and other studies while the BDCP undergoes expected court challenges by environmentalists and Northern California/Delta farming interests. The BDCP document now runs over 30,000 pages. Westlands directors should decide by January 2014 if they wish to opt in, Cowin said.
Cowin said much progress has been made in answering the concerns of the various interest groups and he believes the project will survive any court challenges. The final BDCP plan is expected to be unveiled next month. Cowin said the draft BDCP “probably” drew a record number of comments. … “
Continue reading from Lloyd Carter at the Chronicles of the Hydraulic Brotherhood blog by clicking here.
