Most Bay Delta Conservation Plan scenarios rely on a canal or tunnel to carry water to southern California.
Republican Assemblyman Bill Berryhill of the Central Valley says taxpayers deserve a comprehensive, third-party cost-benefit analysis of the plans.
BERRYHILL: "We have to look at the whole picture. The rate payers, the farmers, all deserve to know what's this water going to cost before they go pumping $25 billion into a pipeline."
Opponents of the bill, including the Metropolitan Water
District of Southern California, say the information is already
included in the draft plan. Still the bill passed the
committee by a vote of 10 to 2.
The committee passed a second delta bill requiring the state to consider another water management system not included in the original plan. Proponents say this proposal could store more water, and might serve as a back-up if the delta plan fails.