[Magdalen] Sometimes, gov't works.

[M J _Mike_ Logsdon]

>>>This will surely be the end of Lake Nacimiento?<<<

Actually, no.  Because Nacimiento is in a larger watershed than San Antonio, historically we've used San Antonio as the "checking account" and Nacimiento as the "savings account".  Consequently, San Antonio would go dry much sooner, but there was really no way around it because it got less runoff than Nacimiento.  Now, by connecting the two, we can take water from the larger one, send it over to the smaller one in well-regulated amounts, and thereby keep the smaller one functioning for longer periods, in conjunction with keeping more water in the larger one for longer periods (as opposed to "having" to release at high rates before because the other one was dry, thereby depleting the "savings" quicker than desired).  Plus, by keeping Nacimiento fuller for longer periods, we can generate more electricity at the power plant at the base of the dam than before, hence helping our revenue.  There's also the fact that the land around Nacimiento is mostly privately owned, so more lake use means more revenue for us as well via the concessionaire.  A definite win-win.

Thankfully, the project has the full support of the ag industry downstream, for whom it's intended to benefit in the first place.  Otherwise, getting people to vote on a new assessment for a huge project about water during a drought, would be a very hard sell.