California’s largest union opposes wasteful Delta Tunnels/ WaterFix

By Bob Schoonover, President SEIU Local 721 - Red, Green, and Blue, August 25, 2017

An open letter from the SEIU to the Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors

Dear Board of Directors:

Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721 urges you to oppose the proposal to build massive water tunnels in Northern California, known as the so-called California WaterFix. Our 97,000 members deliver public services in counties, cities, sanitation and water districts and non-profits across six counties including Los Angeles. Water quality is vital to our members both as residents and workers.

Fixing aging infrastructure for Southern California is linked with creating environmentally sustainable water capture at the local level. During the recent storms in L.A., the region enjoyed a deluge of rain that turned yards and hills green again. But we also saw the negative impacts to aging infrastructure, with road sink holes, emergency calls to Sanitation Districts and, most importantly, a rush of uncaptured water rolling through storm drains to the ocean.

We support efforts to capture our stormwater, and last month’s LA County Supervisors motion to determine an appropriate parcel tax to fund stormwater capture and water quality projects and programs in the coming year. We also support the partnership between Metropolitan Water District and L.A. County Sanitation Districts to build a new recycled water facility and upgrade our treatment plants in Carson and the City of Los Angeles, producing a new water source.

We support Mayor Eric Garcetti’s goals to increase reliability and double local water sources by 2035. The City of Santa Monica, the City of Camarillo, Ventura County Water, Orange County and L.A .County are also proposing similar efforts to increase local and regional water projects.

Neither the State nor Metropolitan Water District has released a credible financial plan on the real impacts to ratepayers, and there is good reason to suspect the costs will be much larger.

We oppose the so-called California WaterFix to build massive water tunnels in Northern California.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are not the official position of the IWW (or even the IWW’s EUC) and do not necessarily represent the views of anyone but the author’s.