"Construction officially began today on a new underground pipeline linking the two massive canals that export water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The $28 million project will provide a means to move water between the state's California Aqueduct and the federal government's Delta-Mendota Canal, both of which divert water from the Delta at points near Tracy. The canals come within 500 feet of each other near the intersection of Interstates 580 and 205, which is where the intertie will be built.
Environmental groups have been concerned about the project for years because they see it as a means to export more water from the already stressed Delta environment.
But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the project's lead sponsor, maintains the intertie will allow its existing pumping capacity to be used only when environmental rules permit full pumping, and will allow greater flexibility to deliver water between the state and federal systems.
Together, the two canals deliver Delta water to 25 million Californians and some 3 million acres of farmland.
"Linking of these two canals by a new underground pipeline and pumping plant will improve water supply reliability in a part of California hardest hit by dry conditions and loss of jobs," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at an 11 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony attended by state and federal politicians.
The project consists of four pumps with a total pumping capacity of 467 cubic feet per second. The pumps feed two nine-foot diameter underground pipelines. The pipelines can move water in either direction between the two canals. A 4.5-mile power line is also being built to serve the pumps.
Funding for the project includes $16 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The construction contract was awarded in July to Shimmick Construction of Oakland, and is expected to fund 160 jobs. Construction is expected to be finished in 2012."
See also: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/intertie/
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/14/3105063/building-begins-on-delta-water.html#ixzz12mlrv8q5
The $28 million project will provide a means to move water between the state's California Aqueduct and the federal government's Delta-Mendota Canal, both of which divert water from the Delta at points near Tracy. The canals come within 500 feet of each other near the intersection of Interstates 580 and 205, which is where the intertie will be built.
Environmental groups have been concerned about the project for years because they see it as a means to export more water from the already stressed Delta environment.
But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, the project's lead sponsor, maintains the intertie will allow its existing pumping capacity to be used only when environmental rules permit full pumping, and will allow greater flexibility to deliver water between the state and federal systems.
Together, the two canals deliver Delta water to 25 million Californians and some 3 million acres of farmland.
"Linking of these two canals by a new underground pipeline and pumping plant will improve water supply reliability in a part of California hardest hit by dry conditions and loss of jobs," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at an 11 a.m. groundbreaking ceremony attended by state and federal politicians.
The project consists of four pumps with a total pumping capacity of 467 cubic feet per second. The pumps feed two nine-foot diameter underground pipelines. The pipelines can move water in either direction between the two canals. A 4.5-mile power line is also being built to serve the pumps.
Funding for the project includes $16 million from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The construction contract was awarded in July to Shimmick Construction of Oakland, and is expected to fund 160 jobs. Construction is expected to be finished in 2012."
See also: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/intertie/
Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/10/14/3105063/building-begins-on-delta-water.html#ixzz12mlrv8q5