They say tunnel construction is a threat to the region’s ecosystem that will send water bills soaring.
Northern California lawmakers are pushing back against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to expedite a $20 billion tunnel project designed to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The Delta Conveyance Project intends to modernize the State Water Project, a massive water management system that’s over 60 years old. It would build a 45-mile tunnel to channel water from the Sacramento River to the aqueduct that serves Southern California. Newsom has
said the project is critical for the future of the state’s water supply and reliability amid a changing climate.
Newsom, whose term ends in 2026, is seeking to streamline the project’s construction.
He attached a trailer bill in his
revised budget proposal in May, which makes the legal changes necessary to implement policies outlined in the Budget Act. The trailer bill would procure funding via revenue bonds and limit litigation delays, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
“For too long, attempts to modernize our critical water infrastructure have stalled in endless red tape, burdened with unnecessary delay,” Newsom said in a statement. “We’re done with barriers—our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future. Let’s get this built.”
State lawmakers from the region say the project is a threat to the ecosystem and will send water bills soaring for millions of users. They also criticized the project’s $20 billion price tag and what they say is a bypass of environmental protections.
“The governor is asking for a blank check, without cost caps, without meaningful oversight, without even committee hearings,” state Sen. Christopher Cabaldon, a Democrat from West Sacramento, said during a
news conference on May 20. “What we have before us is a proposal to advance this under the dead of night with no public oversight or input.”
Delta Caucus Cochair Lori Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City, said Newsom’s fast-tracking of the tunnel would hurt the local economy.
“The Delta Conveyance Project will devastate the Delta ecosystem and create a massive financial burden for ratepayers,” she
said in a May 14 statement. “This approach threatens the livelihood of our local communities and undermines the sustainability of our regional economy,” she said. “Shifting water from one farming region to support another does not solve our water crisis, it exacerbates it.”
The project would upgrade the current conveyance system to also include a single underground tunnel, which would channel water from the Sacramento River in the northern Delta to the existing State Water Project’s California Aqueduct on the southern end of the Delta, providing
water to over 27 million people and irrigating 750,000 acres.
The 45-mile-long, 36-foot diameter tunnel would be the state’s second largest infrastructure project, after the high-speed rail.
California water agencies say the new infrastructure is vital for capturing water more efficiently amid climate concerns.
“Southern California stands to lose up to 10 percent of our water supply from the State Water Project if we don’t act now,” Charley Wilson, executive director of the nonprofit Southern California Water Coalition, said in a
statement. “The Delta Conveyance Project is our best path to offsetting those losses.”
Desert Water Agency Board President Paul Ortega also commended Newsom’s trailer bill accelerating the project.
“Ensuring the timely delivery of this important infrastructure will make our desert community and regions across the state more sustainable and protect our state’s primary water supply from the impacts of climate change and disruptions from earthquakes or levee failures,” he said.
