Construction on what is left of California’s “bullet train” has been halted by flooding in several areas of the Central Valley after recent heavy rains — and more flooding could be on the way with the spring snowmelt.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) canceled the promised San Francisco-to-Los Angeles high-speed train upon taking office because, as he explained to the state legislature, “would cost too much and … would take too long,”

But Newsom wanted to preserve the portion of the project that would connect several rural towns in the Central Valley — though it remains unclear if there is consumer demand for rapid commuter transit between them.

Now, the heavy rainfall of the 2022-23 winter is proving to be another obstacle.

The Fresno Bee reports:

Recent rainstorms that have created flooding in some parts of Kings and Tulare counties have also ground work to a halt at several key construction sites for California’s high-speed rail project.

But while standing water at some locations has prevented work crews from reaching their job sites, the Central Valley director for the Cailfornia High-Speed Rail Authority said it’s the prospects for a lengthy summer run of water in local irrigation canals that present a greater potential disruption to construction later this year.

The rail infrastructure itself is intact, and is reportedly designed to withstand a 100-year flood. But construction will be slow, causing the latest delays in a project that was supposed to have been completed by 2020.

President Donald Trump withheld nearly $1 billion of federal money that taxpayers had allocated to California for the aborted project. But President Joe Biden restored the funding despite the project’s many failures.