Stakeholders respond to claims of BDCP benefits: “Even BDCP Hired Economist Wouldn’t Sign Off on BDCP”, they say; the BDCP responds

Consumer & Environmental Advocates Respond to Brown Administration’s Claims of BDCP Benefits: Even BDCP Hired Economist Wouldn’t Sign Off on BDCP:Restore the Delta and the Southern California Watershed Alliance and today responded to the Brown Administration’s latest claims of supposed benefits from the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and its huge water export tunnels. “The recently released statements and documents from BDCP on the costs, and who will pay, are more of the same disingenuous statements that they have been making throughout the life of the project. These unsubstantiated claims show how desperate BDCP officials are to greenwash this project for the public,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta (RTD). “Documents from public record requests, and statements from their own officials and water agency officials, reveal that the project will be closer to $67 billion in today’s dollars, before cost over-runs.” Independent University of the Pacific economist Dr. Jeff Michael concludes that the average water ratepayer will end up paying between $40 and $80 per person per year. “Los Angeles will not receive an additional drop of water, as 2/3 of the water taken from the Delta goes to mega-growers in the Westlands and Kern County Water Districts,” said Barrigan-Parrilla.

“Work by the Pacific Institute’s Dr. Peter Gleick shows the millions of acre feet of water can be made through conservation, recycling, and storm water capture,” said Conner Everts, executive director of the So. California Watershed Alliance. “The truth is that the Metropolitan Water District cannot make money except through reselling water, and thus is the strongest proponent of the BDCP. They will continue to find reasons why conservation measures won’t work, and to delay aggressive development of local water projects. Dr. David Sunding of the Brattle Group said at the recent Continuing Legal Education Water Law Conference in San Diego that ‘given the financial uncertainties, if he were a water agency, he would not sign off’ on the BDCP. Neither should we.”

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan answered with this rebuttal:

Setting the record straight on the Sunding quotes: “Opponents of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) grossly misquoted BDCP consultant Dr. David Sunding. At the recent Continuing Legal Education Water Law Conference held in San Diego, Dr. Sunding said that water agencies will not know their specific costs until the financing plan and cost allocations are determined. After that, he said, agencies can fully assess the business case for BDCP.

Dr. Sunding’s presentation can be viewed online and is based on information presented in Chapter 9, of the BDCP. The facts and information in this presentation show that the project passes a cost-benefit test. Additional information on the cost of the project compared to alternative supply projects has recently been released and can be found online.

The BDCP seeks to protect the reliability of California’s two largest water projects that tap a major sources of supply – the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountains – by improving how water moves through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. As one part of the state’s overall water plan, the BDCP’s proposed water delivery improvements seek to stabilize Delta water supplies, respond to climate change, and protect against natural disasters“