John Bass has been pushing an excellent question about the direction of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan:

Why isn’t the “fortress Delta” solution the most cost effective way of pursuing the co-equal goals question.

John’s come to this line of thinking based on a cost-benefit argument: Couldn’t armoring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levees achieve the goals of reliability of water supply and environment protection at a fraction of the cost of building a peripheral canal/tunnel thingie?

Timm Herdt had a piece in the Ventura County Star yesterday that comes at this from a different direction: will the folks down south be willing to foot the bill for a multi-billion dollar conveyance to carry water around the delta?

Before the process advances, some are arguing that it’s time for a cost-based reality check.

“They’re devising a project without first determining what the customers can afford to pay,” said Dennis Cushman, assistant general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority.

“The real Achilles heel is the financing,” said Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, of the planning for a new conveyance system that would be part of a comprehensive delta fix.