The $54 Billion Headline

Finally, someone has started to talk FACTS, and I am proud to say that my friend Steve Kasower is the one to do so:

The Delta fix supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and many of the state's largest water agencies could carry a staggering price tag of $23 billion to $54 billion, a consulting economist was planning to tell lawmakers Tuesday.

The estimate, provided in a paper by Steven Kasower, appears to be the first time that potential costs of different pieces of the proposed fix — storing and moving water, offsetting environmental damage caused by those projects and restoring habitat — have been compiled in one place.

[snip]

The figures compiled by Kasower included $4.2 billion to build a new aqueduct around the Delta and $9.8 billion to maintain levees to allow water agencies to continue taking water from the Delta. They also include rough estimates for environmental projects and new dams. The high end, $54 billion, would be reached if the state tunnels under the Delta to move Sacramento River water to the south instead of moving it through a new aqueduct.

If you didn't notice, California can't afford a pot to piss in (how about the Delta? whoops! black humor day...), so $23 billion (bargain!) is still a deal killer. (Remember what happened to "Restore Hetch Hetchy"?)

Here is Steve's draft document [doc]. Please email him with your feedback!

Bottom Line: Everyone wants to "fix" the Delta. Assuming that is possible, someone has to pay for it, and now you know what all the fighting in Sacramento is about.