Goldman Sachs and Westlands Water District Holding Joint Meeting on Brown/Trump Delta Tunnels

By Dan Bacher | July 17, 2017 |

Goldman Sachs and the Westlands Water District, the largest water district in the nation and a persistent foe of the restoration of salmon and other fish, are holding a joint meeting today in Coaling, California, to discuss the Delta Tunnels project now being fast-tracked by the Jerry Brown and Donald Trump administrations.

Opponents of the project say Goldman Sachs involvement in the California WaterFix suggests that the tunnels project is not for water reliability, but for profitability.

The meeting will take place today at the ballroom at Harris Ranch, 24505 W Dorris Ave, Coalinga, CA 93210, starting at 2 p.m., according to a press advisory from Restore the Delta (RTD).

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla and Tim Stroshane from Restore the Delta, Delta attorney for LAND (Local Agencies of the North Delta) Osha Meserve, and Delta farmers will be available for interviews before and following the joint Westlands/Goldman Sachs meeting today at Harris Ranch.

“The CA WaterFix project is not about water supply reliability," said Executive Director of Restore the Delta Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla. “Our side has argued for years that no additional water is available. This public meeting signals that Westlands, Goldman Sachs, and Metropolitan Water District don't care about supply, affordability, or sustainability.”

“What they care about is how much they can charge. If water becomes a commodity via this public-private water transfer project, private investors and special interest water districts will seek to charge Californians the maximum amount for water deliveries the market can bear,” she concluded.

As I predicted on election night, the President Donald Trump and Governor Jerry Brown administrations have made a deal to fast-track Brown’s legacy project, the Delta Tunnels, considered by opponents to be the most environmentally destructive public works project in California history.

The Trump administration recently released a no-jeopardy finding on the biological assessment to build the tunnels, claiming that the California WaterFix will not jeopardize threatened or endangered species or adversely modify their critical habitat. The biological opinion is available here: https://www.fws.gov/sfbaydelta/HabitatConservation/CalWaterFix/Index.htm 

The Delta Tunnels is based on the unscientific assumption that diverting more water from the Sacramento River so it doesn't flow through the estuary will somehow restore the Delta. I'm not aware of any project in U.S. or world history where diverting more water out of a river or estuary has resulted in the restoration of that river or estuary.

For more information about today’s meeting, contact: Nora Kovaleski, 408-806-6470, nora@kovaleskipr.com, or Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org