1. Do you support the high-speed project in the Central Valley? Why/not? (Just the Central Valley part of the project is estimated to cost $3.2 billion)
There are basically two aspects to the high speed rail project in the Central Valley. The first could be seen in terms of the development of this region between California and Los Angeles, trains covering a distance of 255 miles in just 1 hour 24 minutes and also reducing the level of CO2 by nearly 191.25 lbs. The second aspect is, of course, the costs involved, somewhere in the region of $3.2 B in just the Central valley part alone, for which funds are needed. But one of the major factors would be in terms of resettlement of farmers whose properties would be lost during the construction of these new railway lines. Most of the proposed rail lines would cut across their properties and water wells and this is indeed a serious matter which needs to be sorted out. There needs to be a consensus on this issue and a final decision that needs to be taken should be for the common good of the people of this area.
2. Do you think more water should be supplied to Central Valley farmers even if depletes delta fish populations?
More water being supplied to the Central Valley farmers would be at the expense of restrictions on Delta water supplies meant to protect the alarmingly dwindling number of salmon, delta smelt and other fishes. "Several Delta fish populations have declined rapidly over the past decade, including Delta smelt, a small fish that some scientists say could be nearing extinction, and a commercially valuable salmon run that was closed for two of the past three years" (Taugher, 2011). Under such circumstances, I do not think that it would be judicious to have water supplied to Central Valley farmers at the cost of rapid depletion of the delta fish population in the region.
