Two weeks ago, Governor Brown evoked media uproar when he unveiled his plans to construct a pair of huge underground water tunnels to convey water from the Sacramento River to the Santa Clara Valley, Central Valley agribusiness and southern California. Since then, the overwhelming consensus has been unfavorable toward the budget busting project estimated to cost anywhere from $20-$50 billion. Throughout the state, opposition to the Governor’s water project is making headlines as Californians ask why their already-increasing water rates should skyrocket for this project that won’t provide regional water self-sufficiency.

Here’s what Californians leading media outlets have to say:

Statewide

Calif. unveils hot-button, $24B water tunnel plan (Associated Press)

California Water Wars: Will Thirsty Interests Divert More Water? (PBS)

Northern California

Twin-tunnel Delta plan concerns Placer water officials: Water rights questions in plan announced by Gov. Jerry Brown and top federal official (Auburn Journal)

PERIPHERAL TUNNEL: Governor announces twin tunnel plan; locals fear the worst for Trinity waters (The Trinity Journal)

Bay Area

Combatants in New CA Water War Dig In: Opponents call Governor’s Delta plan “plumbing before policy” and “a wink and a promise” (KQED News)

Delta tunnels would mean higher prices: State water plan Customers of 3 Bay Area agencies on the hook for construction costs (San Francisco Chronicle)

Delta tunnels would mean higher prices (San Francisco Chronicle)

Why is governor picking a water fight? (San Francisco Chronicle)

Gov. Jerry Brown fires first shot in new water war (San Jose, Mercury News)

Delta Region

Brown’s tunnel vision: It’s up to opponents to put a decisive end to governor’s blatant Delta water grab (Stockton, The Record)

Solano County leaders against Delta tunnel plan (The Reporter, Vacaville)

Peripheral Canal: A bad idea in the 1980s; a bad idea today (Woodland Daily Democrat)

Eclectic Delta coalition is set to fight proposal for ‘peripheral tunnels’ (Sacramento Bee)

Central Valley

Engineer: Fix Deltas levees, don’t build peripheral tunnels (Central Valley Business Times)

Central Coast

Governor’s State Water Proposal Draws Local Criticism: Average Water Bill for South Coast Water Consumers Could Increase (Santa Barbara Independent)

Southern California

Plumbing before policy in Delta decision (Santa Clarita Valley, The Signal)

Jerry Brown’s water plan is more than policy: In unveiling the latest version of the Peripheral Canal, the California governor is trying to finish what his father, Gov. Pat Brown, had started. (Los Angeles Times)

Tunnel vision may wreck Delta plan: State needs to be on same page on water use (Los Angeles Daily News)

$14B water project faces long haul: San Diego officials wary of cost for dual tunnels in Sacramento delta (San Diego Union-Tribune)