Schwarzenegger: Maybe not a canal

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has backtracked from comments in Stockton last week that he wants to move ahead with construction of a peripheral canal around the Delta.

In an interview with the editorial board of the Fresno Bee this week, Schwarzenegger said “canal” may not be the right word to describe the new infrastructure that would send water past, rather than through, the Delta.

He said the state is also studying a tunnel underneath the estuary, an alternative that would be less disruptive to Delta farming than a canal.

“There could be farmers that say (they’re) not going to sell their land, which is OK, but the problem is we still have to build this delivery system,” Schwarzenegger said.

Drilling the tunnel, the governor said, would involve a boring machine similar to one deployed in his 1990 film “Total Recall,” although not as large.

He said he refers to the shipment of water past the Delta as a “water delivery system,” not for political or diplomatic reasons but because it’s not certain which method the state will choose.

Fresh off what he called a historic water deal on Nov. 4, Schwarzenegger surprised some dignitaries and business officials at an electric car manufacturing plant in Stockton when he said the deal would allow him to move forward with a canal around the Delta.