The following statement is from Jason Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of Friant Water Authority, on the California Water Commission's determination of public benefits for the Temperance Flat project application:
Yesterday, after three days of deliberations regarding the benefits of storage projects applications submitted for funding under Proposition 1, the California Water Commission decided that the Temperance Flat project application would only be eligible for a maximum of $171.3 million in public funding.
It’s disappointing to see that all the hard work and effort assembling the Temperance Flat project application did not result in a more favorable finding from the California Water Commission for the project’s public benefits. We understand that the constraints of Proposition 1 and associated regulations gave the commission and its staff an unenviable task: to evaluate storage projects not by direct water supply benefits, but by other values. Nevertheless, this outcome is not what we’d hoped for.
The annual water shortfall in the San Joaquin Valley is nothing short of a crisis and there is no time to waste in identifying solutions for the near and long term. We believe additional storage, such as at Temperance Flat, could still be part of a portfolio of actions to help the valley’s communities and business find long-term sustainability.
Friant Water Authority and other water agencies in the San Joaquin Valley will continue to evaluate the feasibility of the Temperance Flat project as a water supply project without Proposition 1 funding.
Contact: Alex Biering, abiering@friantwater.org, 916-628-0431