Chamber supports California WaterFix

The Oxnard Chamber of Commerce strongly supports California WaterFix to protect the reliability of our state and local water supplies. In our role as a champion for a stronger community, we know how critical it is to have a reliable source of water to serve our businesses and residents alike.

One-third of Southern California's water supply comes from Northern California. Our long-term water supply depends on modernizing the state's water delivery system in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

After 10 years of research and environmental review, state and federal agencies have proposed California WaterFix as the solution. This modernized system would have two locations to divert water – one in the north Delta and one in the south Delta. This will provide more flexibility and reduce conflicts with fish species like salmon and smelt.

The new tunnel pipelines will safely transport supplies to the 25 million people, farms and businesses that depend on this water in the event of an earthquake or other disaster that collapses Delta levees and disrupts the water we get from the current decades-old system.

There are many regional benefits to having a reliable State Water Project. Water from Northern California helps to prepare the Southland for future droughts and emergencies. Imported supplies from Northern California help replenish our ground water basins. Sierra snowmelt is pure enough to recycle again and again, promoting more water recycling projects.

The cost for California WaterFix is roughly half the cost of other large-scale local water supply projects. This investment, spread over the expected supply, breaks down to less than a tenth of a penny per gallon and will protect the supply for decades.

In addition, California WaterFix will create about 100,000 jobs, and it supports Southern California's trillion dollar economy and hundreds of thousands of existing jobs.