Catherine Mellor: Desalination rather than tunnels

Re “Groups file first legal challenges in Delta tunnels fight” (Online, June 29): To build more dams and tunnels is a futile enterprise. Both presuppose future incoming supplies of water from rains and snow packs. Unless we discover new sources of water the whole state could dry up.

There is talk of spending billions of dollars building tunnels and there is the threat of further depleting Northern California's ground waters allowing salty water to come in from the Pacific. The money spent on tunnels for this diversion would be so much better spent on desalination plants.

Because desalination is energy intensive, we need nuclear power. Instead of shutting down nuclear power plants they need to be reopened. New ways of building power plants remove the danger of meltdowns. Nuclear waste can be recycled. Fears of radiation have been grossly exaggerated. It is becoming apparent that some radiation is healthy!

And we can use nuclear power without adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. Instead of building tunnels to drain one part of the state for the other, tunnels can be built to ship fresh water to our thirsty neighboring states. Not only can water be sold from desalination plants, but also electrical power from the nuclear power plants! California can become fabulously wealthy!

This story was originally published July 31, 2017 at 3:01 PM with the headline "Catherine Mellor: Desalination rather than tunnels."