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Advocates Say Revised Delta Tunnels Project Isn't Enough

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The state released a revised blueprint for the Delta tunnels with a few changes to the project aimed at moving water from the Delta to Southern California.

Water is currently moved from the south Delta to two pumping stations outside of Tracy. From there, it's pumped to Southern California. It's been done like this for decades, but the governor's office says this man-made system is a huge disaster for the ecosystem.

Gov. Jerry Brown's solution is a two-tunnel system to move water south, starting outside Clarksburg and taking water from the Sacramento River. The water will move into a single tunnel until north of Walnut Grove. It will then move into a dual tunnel and flow into the south Delta.

The new plan eliminates the pumping plants and sediment basins along the river and uses gravity instead of pumps to get the water through the tunnels.

The governor's office says the tunnels will restore native habitat in the Delta and improve flows for endangered fish while supplying the south with a reliable water source.

The advocacy group Restore the Delta isn't impressed with the new environmental-impact report.

"You can't lessen the impact on fish by taking the water away from them," Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said.

They say it's still a costly project that takes away water and doesn't factor in the risks to the northern Central Valley

"It will take too much fresh water out of the system, it will not make any new water for other parts of California," she said. "And it will cost once you put in cost overruns, interest, the operations costs, maybe up to $60 billion."

The project began in 2006 and still needs to get through public hearings. Restore The Delta advocates say they plan to be at the July 28 hearing in Sacramento.

Public comment on the revised report is open until Aug. 31.

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