RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Sacramento County District 5 Supervisor Don Nottoli was May’s Cordova Council luncheon speaker, addressing a number of topics throughout the state, county and City of Rancho Cordova, but none more important than Governor Jerry Brown’s push to destroy the Delta.

While Nottoli took the time to express his pleasure for the progress and success that Rancho Cordova and Mather have made over the recent years and thanked those who helped pave the way, he was hot on the topic of the Delta tunnels.

“It’s been a very long battle and we have a governor who is very focused on two particular projects, being the high speed rail and the construction of the Delta tunnels,” he said. “It has been a very high priority and certainly our local government has pushed back while they can but it has recently been taken out of the hands of legislators.”

“They continue to forge ahead,” Nottoli exclaimed. “And as recently as yesterday the Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles (and other Southern California water districts) came together and, with a new body, have formed the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction.”

According to the Department of Water Resources: “The Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA) has been formed as a Joint Powers Authority by the participating public water agencies. It will be charged with final design and construction of WaterFix facilities, under the oversight of DWR.  This model will allow the State and the public water agencies funding the project to assign roles and responsibilities that align around a shared vision to safely and transparently design and build WaterFix.”

“They will design the project and build it in our front yards. To me it is tremendously insulting, let alone injurious to our communities,” declared Nottoli. “It will over time be a slow degradation of our Delta communities. With an emphasis on Farm to Fork and our environment and on recreation and on many other aspects of the Delta…generations of families will be displaced.”

Referring to the project as a “water grab,” Nottoli urged those in attendance to get involved. “If you get an opportunity, if you’re talking to a legislator, if you get a chance to write a letter (do so),” he said. “I don’t think we’ll get a chance to vote on it anytime soon, they’ve done a really good job of keeping it away from the ballot. To me it’s wrongheaded, it’s misguided and probably in my work as a county supervisor one of the most challenging issues that I’ve ever encountered.”