September 09, 2017

Audit: US misuses taxpayer cash for California water project

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The U.S. Interior Department improperly contributed $85 million in taxpayer funds to help pay for a giant California water project backed by Gov. Jerry Brown, despite pledges from Brown and other state and federal authorities that local water districts would bear all the costs, a federal audit said Friday.

California law and an agreement by the water districts dictate that California's politically influential water districts are supposed to bear the costs of Brown's $16 billion proposal to re-engineer California's shipment of water by building dozens of miles of tunnels to tap into the state's largest river, the Sacramento.

In 2011, Brown and the then-secretary of the Interior Department reaffirmed that pledge of using no taxpayer funds in a joint public statement supporting the tunnels plan. Other top California officials have repeatedly insisted no tax dollars were being spent on the tunnels, often called a legacy project of the 79-year-old governor, now in his last term.

Asked if auditors wanted California water districts to repay the money, Interior spokeswoman Nancy DiPaolo said, "We certainly hope so." Brown's office did not respond to requests for comment Friday, and state water spokesman Lisa Lien-Mager refused all comment, calling the audit and transaction a federal matter.

The audit's findings were appalling, said Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council environmental group, which has opposed the tunnels on the grounds that it would speed up the extinction of endangered native species in and around the Sacramento River and San Francisco Bay.

"The public is paying for what a private party is supposed to pay for," Obegi said, who said the audit also raises questions overall about whether water districts can afford to take on the costly water project. "That is taking the public's money, and that's not OK."

While the transaction occurred during the Obama administration, the audit said approval for the deal came from a regional Reclamation budget officer. In response to the inspector-general's findings, the Reclamation bureau told auditors that it had disclosed the payments in a 2013 letter to seven unidentified members of Congress, and said it planned to make no more such payments for the tunnels project. Bureau spokesmen refused comment Friday

https://www.mail.com/news/politics/5499140-audit-us-misuses-taxpayer-cash-california-water-pr.html#.7518-stage-hero1-3

well there's another 85 mil down the drain

http://www.mail.com/news/politics/5499140-audit-us-misuses-taxpayer-cash-california-water-pr.html#.7518-stage-hero1-3

I can't understand that crap in the article, so where did the money really go?

August 2o16 it was supposed to cost $17 billion
Maybe they should keep populating they're wonderful sanctuary city

Ahhh yeah

http://dailycaller.com/2017/08/24/useless-dam-causes-host-of-environmental-problems/

OROVILLE DAM,CA

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/08/25/oroville-dam-time-lapse-video-shows-spillway-being-rebuilt/

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/09/oroville-dam-frustration-friction-flashed-behind-the-scenes-as-emergency-grew/

and you wonder where the Money's going?

Funny and yet Not ..how it is that we give our money to the government so this is the people's money and yet we are never really told where it's going..and then as we see it being wasted and misused ..and then told they have to shut down programs and there's not enough money for health care and there aren't any jobs..Well I see where there's a lot of jobs ..if nothing else in... OVERSIGHT

Never stop dreaming of moonbeams and fairy dust
Who is this guy? Gov. Brown?

WHAT! Are you serious, politicians misusing taxpayer money, I can't believe it, and a democrat on top of that. So What's next, take away our insurance after telling us we can keep it? ...oh wait, they did that already.