Groups challenge tunnels funding

Four local conservation groups have filed a legal challenge to the state’s request to use a bond measure to finance a controversial water project.

Representatives from AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, California Indian Water Commission and California Water Impact Network announced the joint filing, denouncing the WaterFix Twin Tunnels, during a press conference on the Chico State campus Monday morning (Sept. 18).

The state has requested $11 billion in bonds to pay for the project, but does not identify sources of revenue or indicate how total costs will be shared, the groups argue. This comes on the heels of a series of lawsuits filed last month challenging the project’s environmental impact report (see “Challenging the tunnels,” Newsline, Aug. 24).