Metropolitan to Host Media Availability Tuesday (Oct. 10) Following Board of Directors Vote on California WaterFix

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California:

WHAT:  

Metropolitan Water District will host a media availability after the district’s board of directors considers approving the district’s 26 percent share of financing California WaterFix as well as moving forward on a governance structure to build and finance the project.

 

The board’s consideration has been called the region’s biggest water decision of this generation.

 
WHEN: Tuesday, Oct. 10, immediately following the noon meeting of Metropolitan’s Board of Directors. PLEASE NOTE: This briefing is for credentialed news media members only.
 
WHERE: Conference Room 1-102, Metropolitan Water District headquarters, 700 N. Alameda St., adjacent to historic Union Station, downtown Los Angeles (Board meeting is being held in nearby Board Room.)
 
VISUALS: B-roll video footage of Delta will be accessible through Metropolitan FTP site.
 

BACKGROUND:

Following more than a decade of review, planning and analysis involved in the development of California WaterFix, Metropolitan’s board over the past several months has deliberated a series of policy white papers examining the project’s construction, operations, benefits and cost. During this open, transparent dialogue, Metropolitan has received hundreds of public comments and letters on the project.

 

About 30 percent of the water that flows out of taps in Southern California comes from Northern California via the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. But the Delta's delivery system is badly outdated, a problem compounded both by a declining ecosystem and a 1,100-mile levee system that are increasingly vulnerable.

 

California WaterFix is a comprehensive solution proposed by state and federal agencies to ensure the state has a reliable water supply for many years to come. It would modernize the decades-old delivery system through the building of three new intakes in the northern Delta along with two tunnels to carry water to the existing aqueduct system in the southern Delta.

 

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.