Decision on California's $15.5 Billion 'WaterFix' Expected, Finally, in September

"The state’s most powerful water agencies have set a September goal to decide whether they’re going pay for the biggest and most controversial water project California has undertaken since the 1960s," according to an article by Ryan Sabalow and Dale Kasler.

That is, "overhauling the plumbing system that pumps billions of gallons of water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the Bay Area, Southern California and one of the nation’s most productive farm belts."

Water agencies like Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, along with agencies from Silicon Valley, Fresno, Bakersfield, and beyond, will decide in September whether or not "to pay for Gov. Jerry Brown’s $15.5 billion plan for re-engineering the fragile estuary on Sacramento’s doorstep."

Opponents to the project include farmers, environmentalists, and some politicians. Recent studies from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service provided new ammunition for opposing arguments, predicting that the project would have an adverse effect on endangered species of salmon and smelt.