Cal-Fed Canal

Re “‘The Divining Rod of Water Politics,” Opinion, April 19:

David Friedman misses the bottom line in water politics--to whose benefit will the water from the north ultimately accrue, on its journey to the south? Taxpayers will pay for whatever infrastructure is necessary to transport the water, but will they pay twice in the form of higher rates if this water is sold on the open market from agribusiness and Wall Street interests to the end user? Will the process be a transfer from the “privileged . . . powerful elite” of Bay Area environmentalists to another, more powerful and privileged elite of water brokers with Wall Street ties? Corporate raiders (the Bass brothers of Texas) have already attempted forays into controlling water resources in the Imperial Valley. How many and whose hands will Cal-Fed water pass through on its way south? At what cost to the consumer?

There is no question that Southern California needs the water from the proposed canal. This voter would like to hear what gubernatorial candidates think about how to prevent this water, when and if it arrives, from being hijacked and ransomed by big-money water raiders before it hits our taps at inflated prices.

RENE RODARTE

Lake Forest