Press release from Restore the Delta:
Today, Restore the Delta submitted a formal request to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee urging a full audit of the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) spending on the controversial Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) and associated Voluntary Agreements. The request comes amid rising public costs, incomplete project plans, and growing legal and environmental concerns.
According to the letter, DWR will have spent nearly $1 billion on various iterations of tunnel project planning, with projected construction costs exceeding $20 billion before inflation or unforeseen expenses. Yet the project lacks a finalized operations plan, an enforceable environmental impact report, and relies on expired water rights. Additionally, questions regarding refunds due to water agencies from DWR in the hundred of millions of dollars remain unanswered.
Restore the Delta also highlights that modeling for the project assumes the unapproved Voluntary Agreements will move forward – despite broad opposition from tribes, environmental justice groups, and fishing communities, and evidence that these agreements violate state water law and environmental protections.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, stated:
“California cannot afford to throw billions of public dollars at a project that doesn’t have legal, environmental, or fiscal footing. The public deserves transparency, and the Legislature must hold DWR accountable for its use of taxpayer funds, its disregard for the Delta’s communities, and its ongoing failures to comply with state law.”
The letter, backed by research into DWR’s permitting gaps, financing risks, and conflicts with local housing and water reliability plans, calls for an immediate audit to assess how public funds have been used and whether the project can deliver on its promises. DWR’s approved regional water planning documents violate multiple sections of California water and general planning codes presently and base future water management planning on DCP operations many decades into the future. Recent polling conducted by Goodwin Strategies indicates that 62% of Californians prefer public spending on local infrastructure water projects over the Delta Conveyance Project.
