Farmers need recharge not Temperance Flat dam

The Bee ran an editorial a couple months ago touting the idea of Temperance Flat dam, stating that the benefits of the dam outweigh the costs. The Editorial Board could have been trying to please its readership, or maybe just made a mistake.

Since we don’t have unlimited resources, every investment California makes should be weighed against alternatives so that the best option gets the most funding. A study done by a Stanford University group called “Water in the West” concluded that groundwater recharge was cheaper, sometimes by a very large factor depending on the project, and can store much more water.

Valley farmers would benefit from calling for more money for groundwater recharge than for new dams. Not only would they have more water, they wouldn’t have to waste time, energy and money fighting environmental groups, and they would have the support of every significant stakeholder in the state.

This story was originally published January 28, 2018 at 6:58 PM with the headline "Farmers need recharge not Temperance Flat dam."