California has released plan to reroute water from the wetter north to the drier south via tunnel

[IcyPeas]

First I've heard about this. I wasn't aware this was even in the discussion that has been going on for 50 years.

California officials have released their latest plan to reroute water from the wetter north to the drier south through a giant underground tunnel

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A new plan to reroute how water moves from wetter Northern California to drier Southern California would ferry some of it through a single, 45-mile (72-kilometer) underground tunnel, wrapping around the state’s existing water delivery system and dumping it into the main aqueduct that flows south to vast swaths of farmland and millions of people.

It's scaled back from the two-tunnel plan championed by former Gov. Jerry Brown and the latest iteration of a project that has been talked about and planned in some form, but never constructed, for about half a century.

Still, even if the political support to build it is there, construction likely wouldn’t break ground until at least 2028 and would take more than a decade,

Water officials say the chosen path would have the least negative consequences of the various options. Still, the 10-year construction would require removing 71 buildings, including 15 homes, as well as overtaking 2,340 acres of farmland and running through cultural resources and sites significant to tribal communities, the report said.

READ MORE:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-outlines-plan-scaled-back-giant-water-tunnel-87498363

[hunter]

1. The first tunnels were opposed by environmentalists on general principle...

... and by big agriculture because the tunnels would have put a hard upper limit on the capacity to send water south.

In the current system the amount of water sent south is ultimately limited by salt water intrusion. If the system was run at full capacity polluted drainage water and sea water would be drawn all the way to the pumps, further damaging fresh water environments and local water supplies.

Many California farmers and developers don't want ANY fresh water to flow into the ocean. If they could capture all the fresh water they would, the natural environment be damned (and dammed too.) Then they'd take Oregon's water.

This new tunnel design would impose even greater limits on the amount of water that could be withdrawn and sent south, which is good for the little that remains of the Delta's natural environment, but opposed by developers and farmers who would take every last drop of fresh water if they could. They hate Newsom, they consider any water that flows into the ocean wasted, and post signs along the highways saying so.