Gov. Brown Meets with Metropolitan Board Members Prior to Important Vote to Support Modernization of State Water System

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Heading into Metropolitan Water District’s once-in-a-generation vote
next week on a state-federal plan to modernize California’s water
system, Gov. Jerry Brown today addressed some members of the agency’s
board of directors about the importance of California WaterFix.

Gov. Brown informally met with a number of MWD directors at
Metropolitan’s Joseph Jensen Water Treatment Plant in Granada Hills in
advance of the board’s deliberation next Tuesday, Oct. 10, as to whether
to support California WaterFix.

Gov. Brown’s sentiments were echoed by Metropolitan Chairman Randy A.
Record, who attended the meeting: “I applaud Gov. Brown for his strong
support of California WaterFix. We face water reliability challenges in
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta we can’t ignore such as the effects of
climate change and a deteriorating environment harmful for fish.”

At next Tuesday’s meeting, Metropolitan’s board will consider approving
the district’s 26 percent share of financing the California WaterFix
project as well as moving forward on a governance structure to build and
finance the about $17 billion project.

About 30 percent of the water that flows out of taps in Southern
California comes from Northern California via the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. But the Delta's delivery system is badly outdated, a problem
compounded both by a declining ecosystem and 1,100-mile levee system
that are increasingly vulnerable.

California WaterFix is a comprehensive solution proposed by state and
federal agencies to ensure the state has a reliable water supply for
many years to come. It would modernize the decades-old delivery system
through the building of three new intakes in the northern Delta along
with two tunnels to carry water to the existing aqueduct system in the
southern Delta.

Note to editors: Video footage and digital photographs of the
governor’s meeting are available upon request.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a
state-established cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving
nearly 19 million people in six counties. The
district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California
to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased
water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management
programs.

Contacts

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Bob Muir, (213)
217-6930
(213) 324-5213, mobile
or
Armando Acuña, (213)
217-6853
(530) 574-3111, mobile