TEMPERANCE FLAT-LY UNBELIEVABLE

As the debate surrounding the Delta unfolds, we continue to be amazed at attempts by some to fit square pegs into round holes in an effort to force a project to pencil out, even if it so clearly does not make sense for the state.  That seems to be just what has happened with the United States Bureau of Reclamation's recently released Preliminary Feasibility Report for Temperance Flat (Broke) Dam.  

The report pegs the cost of the mammoth project at only $3.3 billion and predicts a benefit to cost ratio hovering at one to one.  However, the truth is buried deep into the report and reveals that to get to these outrageous figures, and squeeze that peg into the hole, they had to use old and outdated cost estimates.  And when the peg did not quite fit yet, they assumed that water would be sold for almost $1,000 per acre foot to agricultural and municipal customers.   

Reports like this should sober those in the Governor's office and the legislature that are pushing billions of dollars of bonds to pay for a project that just does not pencil out.