Authority Approves Water Plan; Uphill Battle Expected

The California Bay-Delta Authority today approved a 10-year, eight billion dollar plan to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that provides water to 22 million Californians.

The decision sets up a fight to convince Congress and the state Legislature to approve the money.

The finance plan shifts more of the future cost to the federal government and to water agencies that benefit from the Delta, after state taxpayers carried much of the burden for years.

It would chop state funding in half and triple federal funding.

The burden assumed by major water users would increase by a third, while the proportion paid by local governments and water agencies would also increase.

Critics fear the state and federal governments are unlikely to approve the money.