The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors has voted unanimously to oppose the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). As proposed, it would be the largest public works project in the country. But the supervisors say it would be a disaster for the local economy.
The BDCP would use twin tunnels to transport water south and around the Delta.
A San Joaquin County staff report concludes the plan would turn 140,000 acres of Delta farmland into unfarmable habitat and the county would lose over 200 million dollars in revenue.
San Joaquin County Counsel Dave Wooten says so far the county has had little voice in the plan.
"This project we believe will effectively destroy the Delta as it exists today and forever alter and negatively impact the economy and citizens of San Joaquin County," says Wooten.
Dante Nomellini with the Central Delta Water Agency paints a grim picture of what will happen once the twin tunnels start diverting water.
"We're going to suffer substantial degradation of water quality and that should raise your antenna and be sensitive to what's really going on is basically a water grab," says Nomellini.
Comments on the plan are due by the end of the month, and so county supervisors voted to add a resolution in opposition.
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