Opinion: California should invest in water solutions, not a bullet train
California is well acquainted with transformative construction: think Oroville Dam, the Bay Bridge and the Arroyo Seco Parkway (also known as the Pasadena Freeway). The state is once again in charge of the nation’s biggest public works project, a 171-mile high-speed rail line between Bakersfield and Merced – the “starter” portion of the long-sought bullet train linking Los Angeles and San Francisco. … Instead of spending an additional $100 billion or more to drill rail tunnels through seismically active mountains and disrupt communities, the state should embark on a massive public works effort to meet its water needs. Advances in stormwater capture and recycling hold great promise. Los Angeles could meet 70% of its water needs locally by 2035 if enough investment is made in recycling and cleaning up its groundwater basins.
-Written by Dana Goldman, dean of the Sol Price School of Public Policy at USC; and Alain Enthoven, an economics professor emeritus at Stanford University.