Why build Temperance Flat to see it sit empty?
The Bee’s Dec. 4 editorial urging construction of Temperance Flat Dam on the upper San Joaquin River is all wet. If Friant Dam is sitting nearly empty because of drought, Temperance Flat will be empty in a year or two. Dams do not make rain. This dam, like pro football stadiums, will be built by the poor sucker U.S. taxpayers.
I suggest Bee readers go to the business forecasting website for the University of the Pacific in Stockton (http://valleyecon.blogspot.com/) and read the economic analysis of Temperance Flat by Jeffrey Michael. The dam will cost more to build than it will yield profits. Would you spend $10 to make $2?
As for President-elect Donald Trump, he announced in California this summer that there is no drought. Problem solved? Don’t count on it.
Temperance Flat will turn out to be the biggest white elephant ever built by the Bureau of Reclamation. Reclamation is playing poker with your tax money. It’s time to drain the real swamp.
Better to transform Bureau of Reclamation into a resources-protection agency with real teeth. Farmers deserve some water, but not every drop when rivers are going dry. River water belongs to all Californians not just one interest group.
Walter A. Shubin, Kerman
This story was originally published December 16, 2016 at 12:21 PM with the headline "Why build Temperance Flat to see it sit empty?."