To the surprise of absolutely no one, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose the latest manifestation of the BDCP (peripheral tunnels) this morning.
A couple of highlights from the discussion:
• Supervisor Ken Vogel: “I have a question for staff. With all of the hundreds of millions that have been spent, all the billions that are looked at to be spent, the millions of hours of meetings, the paper reports that could fill this room, is this process going to create any more water in California?”
Special water counsel Terry Dermody: “No, it won’t. And everyone who deals with this in an objective way knows that’s the big flaw. We’re 5 million acre-feet short.”
• Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller: “Tomorrow the governor will announce what he’s going to announce. I don’t believe he’ll do it in a public way. I think he’ll do it from the bunker. I don’t think he wants to hear from folks who are going to be up there to voice their displeasure at this whole rush to judgment.”
• Dermody: “Some 45, 50 years ago now, and it’s not exactly a similar situation… but we heard the admonition that we had to destroy the village to save it. Now essentially what we’re being told is we have to destroy the Delta in order to save it. That’s what the diversion of at least 9,000 cfs from the Delta will do — it will destroy the Delta.”
• Dermody (asked about California Resources Secretary John Laird’s assertion that San Joaquin County stands to benefit as much as any other county from construction of the tunnels): “I guess the secretary of Natural Resources knows that because of the cost-benefit analysis that has been done. Oh, wait — they haven’t done one.”
