[env-trinity] Fw: [New post] Long foreseeable.

[Tom Stokely]

Here is the article that OPR comments on:
July 17, 2017 5:17 PMThese farmers say they may not pay for Delta tunnels pushed by Gov. Brown
By Dale Kasler
dkasler at sacbee.comCoalinga
The governor’s proposed Delta tunnels ran into a roomful of skeptics Monday – an influential group of San Joaquin Valley farmers who remain unconvinced the controversial project will deliver the water they need at a price they’re prepared to swallow.
Three weeks after the tunnels received a crucial green light from federal environmental regulators, the $17.1 billion project got a cool reception from nearly 100 growers who farm in the powerful Westlands Water District. Provided with detailed financial projections at a Westlands board meeting for the first time, the farmers suggested they aren’t ready to sign onto the plan.
Investment bankers from Goldman Sachs & Co. said debt repayment could balloon farmers’ water costs to as much as $495 an acre-foot under the most expensive scenario, or about triple what Westlands growers currently pay. However, the Goldman bankers said the costs could be reduced to the $200 per acre-foot range depending on how the debt is structured.
Those figures were too rich for Todd Neves, a Westlands board member.
“My initial thought, right off the bat, is no way this will work,” the tomato and almond farmer said in an interview. “Those numbers might work for a city, Metropolitan and them. For a farmer, none of the crops that I grow can support these numbers.”
After a decade of preliminary planning, Westlands and other water agencies south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are beginning to drill into the details of the tunnels plan, in the expectation of deciding in September whether to invest the billions needed to make the project a reality. While the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California – which serves millions of urban customers – is expected to sign onto the project, the sprawling Westlands district, which serves portions of Fresno and Kings counties, has showed more reluctance.
“It’s a lot of money for not a lot of water,” said William Bourdeau, a Westlands board member and an executive with Harris Farms, whose well-known hotel and restaurant near I-5 served as a venue for the board meeting.
Without Westlands’ support, the tunnels’ fate would become far more uncertain.
Much of the farmers’ reluctance revolves around the project’s myriad complexities, and the fact that the tunnels might not generate a substantial amount of additional water for them.
The project would burrow a pair of tunnels along the Sacramento River, just south of Sacramento, and divert a portion of the river’s flow directly to the giant pumping stations at the south end of the Delta. Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration said this re-plumbing effort would reduce the harm the pumps do to Delta smelt and other endangered species, allowing the pumps to deliver water more reliably to urban Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.
However, the exact amount of water that could be pumped won’t be known for years, largely because many of the environmental regulations governing Delta pumping operations are still evolving.
A consultant from the state Department of Water Resources said the Delta pumps would likely be able to deliver an average of 4.7 million to 5.2 million acre-feet of water south each year if the tunnels were built. The range could be considerably wider depending on environmental restrictions.
The current average is 4.7 million acre-feet.
The lack of specificity was clearly frustrating to the Westlands farmers.
“We can’t make a definitive assessment based on the information we have today,” said Don Perrachi, president of the Westlands board. He said the board wouldn’t take on “billions of dollars of debt without reasonable assurance” that the tunnels will provide a significant amount of affordable water.Related stories from The Sacramento BeeGroups file first legal challenges in Delta tunnels fightGroups file first legal challenges in Delta tunnels fight‘Huge milestone’ for Delta tunnels – feds say they won’t push fish over the brink‘Huge milestone’ for Delta tunnels – feds say they won’t push fish over the brinkWhy years of waiting may be over on Delta tunnelsWhy years of waiting may be over on Delta tunnels
Dale Kasler: 916-321-1066, @dakaslerNever miss a local story.


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|   onthepublicrecord posted: "Three weeks after the tunnels received a crucial green light from federal environmental regulators, the $17.1 billion project got a cool reception from nearly 100 growers who farm in the powerful Westlands Water District. Provided with detailed financial "  
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Long foreseeable.
 by onthepublicrecord   |

  
Three weeks after the tunnels received a crucial green light from federal environmental regulators, the $17.1 billion project got a cool reception from nearly 100 growers who farm in the powerful Westlands Water District. Provided with detailed financial projections at a Westlands board meeting for the first time, the farmers suggested they aren’t ready to sign onto the plan.Investment bankers from Goldman Sachs & Co. said debt repayment could balloon farmers’ water costs to as much as $495 an acre-foot under the most expensive scenario, or about triple what Westlands growers currently pay. ...“My initial thought, right off the bat, is no way this will work,” the tomato and almond farmer said in an interview. “Those numbers might work for a city, Metropolitan and them. For a farmer, none of the crops that I grow can support these numbers.”
I am sorry these farmers are only hearing about these estimates now.  The cost range for this water has been available knowledge for half a decade now.  We've known for years that tunnel water wouldn't be agricultural water.This is another illustration of how dedication to ideology over reality is penalizing the conservative farmers of the San Joaquin Valley.  The rough price range for water out of the Delta tunnels has been known for almost a decade.  Wise district managers should have relayed this reality to their farmers.  Messrs. Neve and Bourdeau should not be learning about this now.Instead, the leadership at Westlands continued to pander to the fantasy of additional new low cost water.  Over the years they've paid millions into the BDCP planning effort.  (In the end, that may end up being a subsidy for the cities that can take water from a small tunnel alternative.)   I don't know why Westlands management didn't explain to their farmers years ago that it was time to cut their losses.  One unflattering possibility is that they were more willing to throw their growers' money at a project that wasn't going to deliver ag water than they were to challenge the conservative water management philosophy of the region.  Another unflattering possibility is that the district managers and lobbyists enjoy the lifestyle that their growers support, and aren't going to tell them unpleasant truths until they absolutely must.  Either would explain bringing in outsiders from Goldman Sachs to explain the real costs of the Delta tunnels.  In either explanation, the management and leadership at Westlands aren't working in their growers' best interests.  Even if their growers demand it, perpetuating the fantasy of additional low cost water will not give them the knowledge they need to plan for their farms in the long term.    onthepublicrecord | July 18, 2017 at : | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pocVP-1sY   
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     On Tuesday, July 18, 2017 5:37 PM, On the public record <comment-reply at wordpress.com> wrote:
 

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