Manager and Chief Engineer Matthew Litchfield, P.E.; giving an example of how this project would affect his water district’s service areas. Portions of Three Valley’s service area can only receive imported water from the State Water Project, not from Colorado River water, Litchfield explained. During the recent prolonged drought, Metropolitan and its member agencies, including Three Valleys, received, for the first time, a zero percent allocation from the State Water Project. To provide imported water to the cities of La Verne and Claremont, the district had to pump water uphill.
water supply. “I believe it’s a viable plan, absolutely,” Marquez said.
Delta Conveyance Needed for Water
Another supporter is Jennifer Santana, President of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District. She said, “We have been wanting for this to be done for a long time. We know it is going to be done and this is quite necessary for the Southern California water supply. This solution makes so much sense.” Three Valleys Director Jody Roberto is also impressed by the Delta Conveyance Project. “Had we had this in place already, we could have captured and stored so much water,” Roberto observed.
Resilience The Proposed Project
Matthew Litchfield & Nina Hawk
for years, Hawk said, is the massive infrastructure project called the Delta Conveyance Project,
By Amy Bentley Special Sections Writer L ocal government and water agency officials from Discussed at Three Valleys MWD Leadership Breakfast
commonly referred to as the DCP. The DCP entails the construction of a new underwater pipeline, spanning roughly 45 miles and measuring about 36 feet in diameter, beneath the Delta. This pipeline is designed to transport water from the Sacramento River north of the Delta, where fresh water flows from snowmelt and runoff are routed deep under the Delta to a pumping facility on its southern end. The proposed pipeline is intended to bypass the Delta to protect endangered fish species, provide resistance to earthquakes, sea level rise, salt water intrusion and ensure that water can be transported during large rain or snowstorms without being wasted to the ocean. Today, the $20 billion-plus
“We like water to move downhill by gravity, without the expensive energy cost of pumping water. We had to flip our operation completely around during the zero percent allocation period,” Litchfield said. He said that if the Delta Conveyance Project had been in place, Three Valleys would have had access to more stored water on the State system and could have avoided using drought contingency plans and severe outdoor water restrictions. “It is going to improve the reliability of the State Water Project. We need to build this project,” he said. Three Valleys Director Jorge Marquez agreed. He said he is
Nina Hawk
Keynote
across the San Gabriel Valley gathered for the Three Valleys Water District Leadership Breakfast to learn more about the Delta Conveyance Project, an ambitious project to make Southern California’s water delivery system more resilient against climate change. Nina Hawk, Bay-Delta Initiatives Group Manager/Chief of Bay- Delta Resources for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan), was the keynote speaker at the Three Valleys Municipal Water District Leadership Breakfast, held on Feb. 27 at the Kellogg West Conference Center at Cal Poly Pomona. She gave a brief overview of the State Water Project, which provides Southern California with high-quality, affordable water, and reviewed the main threats to California’s drinking water supply in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta): seismic events, levee failures, saltwater intrusion, the need to protect endangered fish, water scarcity, and climate change. She said Metropolitan is monitoring levees with drones and satellite imagery; using a robust science program to examine these issues; and looking at developing additional water storage and delivery options. However, the solution that Metropolitan has been considering
“We like water to move downhill by gravity, without the expensive energy cost of pumping water. We had to flip our operation completely around during the zero percent allocation period.” TVMWD General Manager Matthew Litchfield, P.E
concerned about climate change and saltwater intrusion into the
project is on schedule and on budget, Hawk said. Outreach to local water agencies and the public, planning and permitting work, and financing work
Interviews
continues. By 2027, the project should reach the final stages and be ready for final approval and construction, she said. “The next two to three years will be some of the most important to make this project come to life,” Hawk said. Three Valleys MWD supports the project, said TVMWD General
TVMWD Directors, from left to right, Bob Kuhn, Jorge Marquez, Jeff Hanlon, Carlos Goytia and David De Jesus.
Continue Recovery, Page 12 From left to right: TVMWD Director Jody Roberto, Upper District Board President Jennifer Santana, keynote speaker Nina Hawk of Metropolitan, and WQA Board President Lynda Noriega.
20 | Earthday 2025
ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE L.A. TIMES
Civic Publications, Inc. | 21
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online