The Waterless State Water Solution
Twin Tunnels Project Conveys Promises, Not Water
There’s no way around it: Santa Barbara is on the State Water Project’s hook. The question is whether we willingly sink the steel deeper.
By now, most of us understand the essential details of our dilemma. In the 1990s, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) promoted construction of the Coastal Branch, an aqueduct designed to deliver water from the State Water Project to the Central Coast. Santa Barbara County took the bait. After all, it looked like a good deal. DWR promised the project would cost no more than $270 million and would deliver 97 percent of contracted water allotments.
So what happened? By the time the project was completed, construction, maintenance, and debt service costs had ballooned to $1.76 billion. Instead of 97 percent deliveries, the Coastal Branch has averaged about 36 percent of contracted allotments to Santa Barbara’s South Coast water agencies.
