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STOCKTON-

A symposium sponsored by stake holders of the massive Bay Delta Conservation Plan to explain the plan didn’t change the minds of critics of the proposal Thursday.

The two 35-mile-long tunnels that would divert water from the Sacramento around the Delta are still the center of the controversial plan.

Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Paul Hellicker told the group that the plan is an attempt to stabilize the water quality in the Delta, which is degrading now because of current pumping practices.

“Without this proposal, we’re going to see further problems with both water supply reliability and with the eco-system protections,” Hellicker told  FOX40 News.

Some members of a panel had a hard time seeing how less water flowing through the Delta would be good for water quality. The see a plan that caters to large farms in the south-western Central Valley.

“The tunnels are a scheme to take more water for export south,” said Bill Jennings, of the California Sports Fishing Alliance.

The manager and general counsel for the South Delta Water Agency says the plan breaks several water laws of long-standing.

“There are at least eight lawsuits. There is no chance of this to get approval without serious long-term legal challenges,” said Herrick.

But Hellicker hopes people can get around the traditional north-south water politics.

“People always look at it as, ‘I win, you lose.’ We think this is a solution for everybody,” said Hellicker.