According to a recently updated report by the University of the Pacific, upgrading the Sacramento Wastewater Treatment Plant will cost $2 billion and have an annual impact of $246 million in lost income to Sacramento area residents and 946 jobs lost. The report compares those figures with job losses in San Joaquin Valley agriculture due to reduced Delta water exports and California’s salmon fishing industry, which has suffered in recent years from a cancellation or reduction in the salmon fishing season. According to UOP the economic hit to agriculture is $72 million and 1,400 jobs lost. In the salmon industry they say it is $120 million and 1,800 jobs lost.
We suppose that comparison is intended to lead readers to believe that upgrading the plant is a less attractive alternative because of its higher costs. Any conclusion like that is simply misguided. Upgrading the plant achieves the goal of reducing the polluted water the plant dumps into the Sacramento River. That’s the water that fish like the Delta smelt and Chinook salmon swim in. It’s water people use for recreation. And it’s water people drink.
So the cost shouldn’t matter, regardless of the comparisons between farmers, fishermen and the cost of upgrading the treatment plant. Sacramento needs to clean up its act and help make the Delta a healthier place because it’s the right thing to do.
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