A Big Boost for Brown’s Elusive Water Project

As California Gov. Jerry Brown moves through his final months in public life, an elusive signature project — the construction of two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, intended to salvage the state’s water supply network — has seemed endangered. The $17 billion tunnels faced daunting costs and opposition from environmentalists and some Californians who saw it as another in a long line of water heists from the north by Southern California and Central Valley farmers.

Brown insisted that in a time of climate change and drought, the tunnels were essential to assure the integrity of a water system central to this state’s economy, as it moves water to farms and the bustling, arid southern parts of the state.

The project received a huge boost Tuesday as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted to commit nearly $11 billion to help finance it. It stepped in to fill a financial void created after agriculture districts in the San Joaquin Valley refused to pay for a project, deeming it to be too expensive.

The Metropolitan Water District is calculating that it will recapture the money it is investing once the 35-mile tunnels are done and it has water to sell to needy farmers.

Potential obstacles lay ahead, including lawsuits and regulatory permits. Still, this project — which has daunted Brown throughout his years as governor — seems as close to reality as ever.

“This is a historic decision that is good for California — our people, our farms and our natural environment,” he said.

The project was opposed by many environmentalists who contended that the tunnels would do significant damage to one of the most pristine parts of the state. And it played into the geographic water tensions that have roiled this state for generations, dramatic enough to be the subject of a movie.

There is a certain historic symmetry to this. When he was governor, Pat Brown, Brown’s father, championed the California State Water Project, which created much of this water network. It was central to California’s expansion, and to Pat Brown’s legacy. The vote may have helped not only to protect his water legacy but also to establish one for his son as well.