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As Gov. Jerry Brown moves through his final months in public life, an elusive signature project — the construction of two massive water tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, intended to salvage the state’s water supply network — has seemed endangered. The $17 billion tunnels faced daunting costs and opposition from environmentalists and some Californians who saw it as another in a long line of water heists from the north by Southern California and Central Valley farmers.

Mr. Brown insisted that in a time of climate change and drought the tunnels were essential to assure the integrity of a water system central to this state’s economy, as it moves water to farms and the bustling, arid southern parts of the state.

The project received a huge boost on Tuesday as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted to commit nearly $11 billion to help finance it. It stepped in to fill a financial void created after agriculture districts in the San Joaquin Valley refused to pay for a project, deeming it to be too expensive.