fresh water in California is that there just isn't enough.

The second thing you quickly find out is that the state's

no stranger to full-on water wars.

Basically, whoever controls the water in California

controls the future.

Currently the dominant player in the state's big agriculture

is Paramount Farms, which is owned and

operated by Stewart Resnick.

Stewart's goals have recently aligned very closely with

Governor Jerry Brown's.

WALT GRAY: California's water war is heating up.

The governor has just unveiled a new $14 billion plan to

build two tunnels underneath the delta, transferring water

from northern California to southern California.

The governor says his plan will create a reliable water

supply and still maintain a healthy

ecosystem in the delta.

Not everyone agrees.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: That's why we came out west.

We wanted a firsthand look into the newest chapter of

California's water works.

So, our first job was to meet Congressman John Garamendi,

who has been fighting Jerry Brown's water

proposals since the '70s.

JOHN GARAMENDI: This proposal goes back at least 40 years.

Jerry Brown, in the 1970s, when he was governor, wanted

to build this system, got it through the legislature.

I and several other folks decided that was a bad thing

and we fought it.

We had a referendum.

And now he's back.

He said it very clearly, I'm going to do it this time.

What are you going to do, governor?

You're so determined to relive your old life that you want to

destroy this thing?

You want to build a system that would destroy the largest

estuary on the west coast of the Western hemisphere?

Is that what this is all about, just so

you say I did it?

It's the north versus the south.

It's the war of water in California.

It's been going on since the gold rush, and it's continuing

to this day.

ADAM KEATS: This area right here is the point at which the

water leaves the public realm and enters the private realm,

so to speak.

The equation is solely focused on big, Southern California

agribusiness.

Huge mega-corporations that are some of the largest farm

interests in the world, producing big-money crops.

And that's the primary thing driving this thing.

And no one has a right to own the water.

It doesn't mean you can totally deprive the rest of

the state of its access to the water--

and when I say rest of the state, that includes the fish

and the birds and the animals.

Early on, in the early 2000s, mid 2000s, we noticed huge

declines of fish species in the delta.

6 million splittail were killed in one count, and

14,000, 15,000 salmon.

Instead of having the power in one interest, the San Joaquin

Valley farmers-- and that's primarily one company,

Paramount Farms--

instead of having one big boy controlling the whole game,

have the state control it, and have the state control with

very strict rules, in terms of who gets water, when they get

water, why they get water.

And include in that mix all the birds and fish in the

environment and ecosystem up here.

But you can answer all the questions just by figuring out

where the money is, who's making the most

money off the deal.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: Moving large amounts of water from

one place to another isn't anything new.

But the water from the San Joaquin delta is already

spoken for.

By law, farmers who have lived here in the San Joaquin Valley

for over 250 years still maintain priority rights over

the delta's water.

They get it first, and their livelihoods depend on it.

RUDY MUSSI: My father was a farmer.

I farm with my brother, and I've done that

for the last 50 years.

All this proposal does is just steal the water from one area

and ship it to another area.

The reasoning changes all the time.

At first, it was to enhance the aquatic species out here.

Well, the Academy of Science said the peripheral tunnels or

canal won't enhance the species.

So then they said, well, we'll do adaptive management.

So, in other words, we're going to build this and then

we'll figure it out how to work it.

We fought this battle in 1982, and I think my dad fought this

battle in the '50s and the '60s.

It's always been somebody trying to steal our water.

Anytime there's a finite amount of water, there's

always somebody that doesn't have it that wants it.

And don't get me wrong.

We don't mind sharing any surplus water, but

don't take my water.

I depend on it for my livelihood.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: Right now, we're heading into Clarksburg,

where we're going to film where they want to begin these

new tunnels.

Sacramento River, chilling on a private levee.

Snuck out here so we can see it for ourselves.

If Jerry Brown's peripheral canal proposal goes through,

they'll take two large tunnels underground, right under here,

and 9,000 cubic inches of water per second will be taken

from Sacramento River all the way down south.

And basically, all the farmers out here are completely

dependent on this water.

Potentially, that could all end as quickly as

shutting off a faucet.

John Herrick is one of a number of lawyers working to

stop the Bay Delta

conservation plan from approval.

Along with a number of colleagues, John's been on the

job for about 30 years already.

JOHN HERRICK: Their proposal is, we're going to improve the

delta by moving our intake.

So their plan is to make the delta better by having less

fresh water flow through it.

It's that nuts.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: Why does the Department of Water

Resources and the Department of the Interior want them to

have those water rights?

JOHN HERRICK: That's an interesting question.

I don't know.

One of the things that should be separated, but isn't, is

the fact that the Department of Water Resources is a seller

to the contractors.

So large amounts of money go from the people who want the

water, exporters, to the department.

That connection of buyer-seller has resulted in

the Department of Water Resources following the

desires of their clients, their buyers.

In our opinion, although we haven't figured out a way,

there are people that should be put in

jail for these things.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: All right, so basically, all of the

proponents of the peripheral canal have pointed us in the

direction of the Department of Water Resources.

But unfortunately, after we set up an appointment with

them, they claimed that they heard some things about us and

decided to cancel our 2 o'clock appointment.

So it is 10 o'clock now.

We figure we might jump in, because we have to hear from

their side, and their reasons behind wanting

this peripheral canal.

Yeah, we're doing an interview.

How's it going?

-Oh, you know.

I work for state parks.

How good can it be?

-This too shall pass.

-It's entertaining.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: Uh, yeah we did.

For 10 o'clock, originally.

The secretary was sharp enough to divert us away from the

building and not let us talk to anybody.

But we got some good pizza

recommendations, so we're cool.

Once we got back to New York, we realized that after all of

our appointments were canceled with the Department of Water

Resources, the Natural Resources Agency, and the

chemist who helped back the proposal's science, we didn't

have a single statement from the proponents of the plan,

let alone a positive one.

So we tried again.

OK, so I just found the list of all of the supporters.

This is everybody who is a proponent of

the peripheral canal.

Let's see if we can talk to somebody.

[PHONE RINGING]

-Financial Resources Agency, this is Kim, how may

I direct your call?

Hi there.

My name is Emerson Rosenthal, and I'm calling on behalf of

Vice Media.

OK.

Can you hold for just one second?

Let me see if there's somebody available.

Hi, this is Nancy Vogel, director of public affairs for

the department.

Hi, you've reached [INAUDIBLE]

with Paramount Farms, please leave a message and I will

return your call.

We had someone here in the office that covers Bay Delta.

They're not in right now, you can leave a message--

Were you the woman that sent us to that

really great pizza place?

Yes.

That's me.

OK.

Oh good, you guys liked Zelda's, after all?

Yeah, it was delicious.

Just one second, let me see if there's somebody available.

Will you please hold for just one second?

One moment.

Thank you.

One moment.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: The only response we got was an email

from the governor's press office, with a link to their

press release.

In the meantime, the governor's been hard at work

pushing the proposal past a legislative vote, in spite of

the opposition.

JERRY BROWN: This proposal balances the concerns of those

who live and work on the delta, those who rely on it

for water, and those who appreciate its beauty, its

fish, waterfowl and wildlife.

EMERSON ROSENTHAL: So we'll have to go with that as their

official statement.

And with all lines of communication cut off between

the designers of the plan and the people asking questions,

the Bay Delta conservation plan is quickly becoming an

imminent reality in the haze of California politics.

Will governor Jerry Brown win the water war he's been waging

since the '70s?

Is this a new precedent for controlling water in America?

In the words of Detective Walsh, in perhaps the most

famous film about California's water, "Forget it, Jake.

It's Chinatown."

[MUSIC PLAYING]