Press release from the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN)
The Newsom administration has long insisted the primary purpose of the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) – aka, the Delta Tunnel – is to improve water delivery reliability for California ratepayers. In its Environmental Impact Report for the DCP, Newsom’s Department of Water Resources stated the purpose of the project is to “…restore and protect the reliability of SWP water deliveries …” [1]But recent written testimony from a Department of Water Resources engineer submitted to a State Water Resources Control Board hearing on the DCP documents the real intent of the project: maximize deliveries from the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, accelerating the death spiral of the already beleaguered estuary.
The testimony of DWR engineer Amardeep Singh states that the DCP will increase water deliveries from the Delta by 22%. Moreover, during drought periods when fish are already strained by low flows and high temperatures, the DCP would increase deliveries by 24%. [2]
“This project is a blatant attempt to maximize exports from the Delta for the benefit of large development and agricultural interests in Southern California and Kern County,” said Max Gomberg, a California Water Impact Network board member and Senior Policy Advisor. “Delta communities, tribes, local farmers and our iconic salmon are already suffering from inadequate freshwater flows. Jacking up exports by 22% would be the estuary’s death knell.”
Gomberg characterized the DCP as a classic bait and switch.
“Governor Newsom and his lieutenants have touted the DCP as necessary to reduce risk to water delivery infrastructure, and that message taps into our fears about water scarcity,” Gomberg said. “But what the project is really about is ensuring the SWP will deliver more – much more – water. And as that fact and the tremendous ratepayer burden becomes clear, opposition to the Delta Tunnel will grow.”
“The Newsom administration is well aware that there are more cost-effective ways to ensure water supply reliability than building a $20+ billion tunnel,” said Gomberg. “But those options do not line the pockets of corporate agriculture and suburban sprawl developers and produce campaign contributions.”
State Water Resources Control Board hearings on the Delta Tunnel are expected to run from April through the summer months. The California Water Impact Network will provide testimony in opposition to the project, which would dramatically raise rates, further degrade the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, and foreclose investments in more sustainable options, including conservation, recycled water, and retirement of marginal agricultural land.
Christina Speed
C-WIN Communications Director
[1] Final Environmental Impact Report for the Delta Conveyance Project, Chapter 2, Section 2.3, “Project Purpose and Objectives.” Accessed from https://www.
The California Water Impact Network is a state-wide organization that advocates for the equitable and sustainable use of California’s freshwater resources for all Californians.
