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Assembly Candidate Dennis R. Bullock Unveils Water Policy PrescriptionDennis R. Bullock, candidate for the 43rd Assembly District, today officially unveiled his major water policy prescription for California. Bullock's philosophy on water policy is simple: California needs to accentuate its water supply by looking outside already overly-tapped regional sources. A 1992 proposal, the Alaska to California Fresh Water Pipeline, should be revisited and its 1992 cost estimates reexamined immediately. "The State Water Project has effectively reached its apex. There are no more regional fresh water sources to tap anew," says Bullock. "Over the course of the last half century or so, California has been forced to largely evolve away from supply-enhancing solutions, turning largely to demand-side answers when facing drought." As Bullock argues in this recent Op-Ed, California needs new supplies of water every bi as much as it needs to continue to improve efficiency and conservation. "Water recycling and conservation, which reduce demand, and desalination, which nominally enhances supply, are all important pieces of the puzzle. But California also needs to bring in fresh water from sources further afield-from outside the southwestern region." An Alaska to California Fresh Water pipeline would transfer fresh water from the ocean outlet of the Copper or Stikine Rivers into California's State Water Project via an undersea pipeline. The pipeline could supply as much as 4-million acre-feet of water per year (equivalent to the water use of 8-million five-person households). Proven technologies already exist to avoid the introduction of invasive species. Estimates put forth by the United States Office of Technology Assessment (this office was nixed by Congress in 2006, unfortunately) in 1992 presented a daunting price tag (News - Alert) of perhaps $110-billion for a pipeline. However, recent undersea pipeline projects provide hope that this idea can be undertaken more efficiently and affordably than predicted. "The price tag of the Langeled Pipeline, an undersea natural gas pipeline between Norway and the UK completed in 2006, was $2.8-billion," Bullock points out. At 745-miles long-more than one-third the needed length for an Alaska to California pipeline-Langeled is currently the longest undersea pipeline in the world, today supplying the UK with 20% of its natural gas. "If the Langeled Pipeline can be built for under $3-billion today, should we really expect an undersea fresh water pipeline to cost $110-billion? If we are going to continue to thrive in our largely arid climate, we in California must be visionary-as those who developed the state water project itself were visionary. It is incumbent upon us to re-explore this option; if it doesn't rain next year, California is going to be in a dire situation," Bullock argues. Bullock's water policy prescription is part of Bullock's overall campaign platform aptly titled Water and the Four Big E's. All of Bullock's policy prescriptions and philosophies are detailed on Bullock's campaign website, votebullock.com. Bullock is also on both Facebook and Twitter. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150622005187/en/ |
