California’s Brown stresses support for water tunnel project

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Gov. Jerry Brown is stressing the importance of putting his ambitious plan to reroute California’s water system on stable footing before he leaves office next year.

Brown spoke Thursday to a gathering of the state’s public water agencies.

He wants to build two 35-mile-long tunnels to divert water from Northern to Southern California and the Central Valley. The project’s price tag is $17 billion.

Brown vowed to spend his last eight months in office securing the necessary permits needed to complete the project. Its once-uncertain funding won a boost last month when a massive Southern California water agency voted to spend nearly $11 billion on it.

Brown says if the project isn’t secured under his watch to “forget it.”

The 80-year-old Brown is finishing his fourth term in office.