Kern County Water Agency Statement on Study Detailing Job Creation Associated with Construction and Operation of the Bay Delta Water Conveyance Tunnel Option

Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Bakersfield, CA - Jim Beck, General Manager of the Kern County Water Agency, issued the following statement on the “Employment Impacts for Proposed Bay Delta Water Conveyance Tunnel Options” report presented to Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) officials yesterday by David Sunding, UC Berkeley and The Brattle Group:

“Success of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is critical to California because it will achieve the important co-equal goals of water supply reliability and environmental protection in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta).  According to a new study, there is an additional significant benefit derived from the BDCP – the creation of more than 129,000 full time jobs during construction and about 580 ongoing positions to operate a 15,000-cubic-feet-per-second (cfs) facility.  We believe this estimate is conservative as it does not account for jobs created by habitat restoration, a labor-intensive process in the Delta.  The real economic benefit could be even greater.

California is facing the most challenging economy since the Great Depression.  Well-planned infrastructure projects can play an important part in stimulating economic recovery and putting skilled men and women to work.  At the same time, a successful BDCP will also be a foundation upon which California’s agricultural economy can stabilize and rebound.  

The Sunding, UC Berkeley and Brattle Group study is the latest piece of research in what has been one of the most in-depth due diligence efforts in California’s history.  The Agency reiterates its support for the ongoing efforts of the Brown Administration to conduct a thorough process that evaluates all possible alternatives.  A successful BDCP will help ensure that for generations to come, Kern County’s economy can continue to sustain thousands of local jobs that help feed millions, and ensure that tens of thousands of homes and businesses in the metropolitan Bakersfield area have a reliable and affordable water supply.”