The California Farm Bureau expressed frustration recently with the Water Commission over the demise of the Temperance Flat Reservoir Project.
Environmental Policy Analyst Justin Fredrickson argued the commission had earlier denied construction money to the project that should have been allocated from the 2014 Proposition 1 water bond. The commission had instead allocated $172 million for continued planning. The project’s authority has now returned a portion of that money to the commission after failing to gather enough matching funds to continue.
In a letter to the commission, Fredrickson called for that money to go to regional projects in agricultural areas hit hard by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
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“The original Prop. 1 awards were very urban focused…and left major unmet demands in the San Joaquin Valley conspicuously unaddressed,” he wrote.
He urged support for groundwater recharge and banking projects, even as some environmental groups may oppose them.
Top photo: Friant Dam, upstream from the proposed Temperance Flat location
