Opinion articles provide independent perspectives on key community issues, separate from our newsroom reporting.

Letters to the Editor

Melvin Ladousier: Tunnel project makes no sense

Re “Brown calls Delta water tunnel project a major ‘necessity’” (Page 6A, Jan. 16): How can diverting fresh water around the delta be environmentally sound when the federal government requires release of water from reservoirs for the purpose of environmental protection of the Delta? Saltwater intrusion into the delta is a year-round problem, not related to a smelt run. Are the environmentalist asleep on this issue?

Why does Southern California need so much more water that we should spend money to build a tunnel to divert fresh water away from the Delta? We should be spending money on building more reservoirs to sustain flows of water to users during inevitable future drought conditions. The tunnel project makes no sense.

Melvin Ladousier, Merced

This story was originally published January 19, 2016 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Melvin Ladousier: Tunnel project makes no sense."

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