REACTIONS: Delta advocates, others respond to Delta Conveyance Project Accountability Action Plan

The California Legislative Delta Caucus on Wednesday once again urged leaders of the California Senate and Assembly to reject Gov. Gavin Newsom’s renewed effort to fast-track the Delta Tunnel Project.

The governor on Wednesday renewed his request that the Legislature approve his fast-tracking proposal before the end of this year’s Legislative session in September. In June, the Legislature rejected the governor’s attempt to include the fast-tracking plan in the state budget.

On Wednesday, the governor also proposed to create a $200 million “community benefits” plan for Delta communities that will be severely impacted by the 45-mile-long, $20 billion-plus water tunnel, should it ever be built.

“The Legislature rightly rejected the governor’s ill-conceived plan to fast-track the Delta Tunnel Project in June and should reject it again. Delta communities that will be devastated by this unaffordable and unnecessary project cannot be bought off with $200 million. In fact, no amount of money can compensate for the destruction of thousands of acres of prime farmland and the loss of fisheries and historic tribal resources,” said Delta Caucus co-chairs, Senator Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, D-Suisun City. “We once again call on California to abandon the tunnel project boondoggle and instead pursue less costly and destructive alternatives, including fortifying Delta levees and increasing water recycling, water efficiency, and groundwater storage.”

Gov. Newsom’s proposal to fast-track the Delta Tunnel Project would effectively eliminate environmental and judicial review of the project, while giving the state a blank check to float bonds to pay for the water tunnel.

Building the Delta tunnel is expected to take at least 15 years, meaning that much of the Delta region and its 500,000 residents will be at ground zero of a giant construction project for nearly a generation. The project will require massive amounts of earth-moving because the 36-foot-wide tunnel will be 100 to 130 feet underground.

The tunnel project is opposed by every city and community in the Delta region and the broad bipartisan coalition against the tunnel fast-tracking plan includes more than 100 legislators; cities, counties, and public agencies; good government groups; environmental and tribal organizations; and nonprofits and local businesses.

The Delta Caucus is a bipartisan group of legislators dedicated to safeguarding the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the largest and most important estuary on the West Coast.

From the Delta Counties Coalition:

In response to the Newsom Administration’s announcement today to launch a so-called Delta Conveyance Project Accountability Acton Plan, Patrick Hume, Chair of the Delta Counties Coalition (DCC), made the following statement on behalf of the five jurisdictions that would be most negatively impacted by the Delta Tunnel megaproject:

“Governor Newsom’s announcement of a so-called Delta Conveyance Project ‘Accountability Action Plan’ and a $200 million Community Benefits Program is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to recycle a plan the Department of Water Resources has been touting for years, pretending it’s new news to buy silence from the very communities that will be most devastated by the Delta Tunnel Conveyance Project.  And, it doesn’t take into account the losses Delta communities would suffer during the decade-plus tunnel building process as well as loss of freshwater flows through the Delta during operations.

We cannot be bought with blood diamonds. If the Governor were truly listening, he would admit that we are asking for a way for our thirsty neighbors to get the water they need, without destroying and disrespecting this history, agricultural productivity, recreational opportunity and ecological fragility of this special place. Invest in upgrading existing infrastructure, increasing storage capacity and throughput and focus on forward thinking projects that use and reuse water more efficiently.

A bad project remains a bad project—no matter how much political gloss or money is thrown at it.

The Administration claims this “new” plan promotes transparency and accountability, but offers few specifics, and nothing enforceable that is not already a requirement for the project.

We see through the spin.

The people of the Delta have consistently and loudly opposed this project through public comment, legal challenges, and community advocacy. The Administration’s claim that our concerns are being heard is disingenuous at best.

Let’s call this proposal what it is: An attempt at a bribe—one that fundamentally misunderstands and insults the integrity, resilience, and unity of the Delta. We will not be placated. We will not be silenced. And we will not allow our communities to be sacrificed under the false promises of a tunnel that solves none of California’s water problems.

The Delta is not for sale and this recycled old news about alleged ‘community benefits’ doesn’t justify the Governor’s attempts to remove property, water rights, environmental and ratepayer protections in a Delta tunnel budget trailer bill later this summer. If the Administration was really listening, it would have proposed sustainable water supply solutions with broad support that would benefit the Delta and all Californians, such as strengthening levees, upgrading existing infrastructure, expanding water recycling, and building resilient storage above and below ground.”

From Restore the Delta:

Today, advocates for Delta communities, tribes, and environmental justice denounced the Newsom Administration’s so-called “Delta Conveyance Accountability Action Plan” as a hollow attempt to appease critics while continuing to push forward a deeply flawed and harmful project.

Releasing an “Accountability Plan” at this stage is too little, too late. After proposing sweeping legal rollbacks to fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) in June, the Administration is now offering half-truths and sidestepping legislative oversight. Accountability must begin in the planning phase — and by excluding communities from developing this plan, the Administration has made clear that its intent is to silence, not support, those most impacted by this $100 billion water tunnel.

The $200 million in funding touted by the Administration is not new, not additive, and represents a paltry offering to offset a massive project that will decimate Delta communities and a multi-billion-dollar regional economy for generations. Worse, the funding focuses only on communities near the construction zone, excluding downstream communities like Stockton that will suffer from degraded water quality and increased pollution burdens.

This announcement completely misses the mark on the core issue: California’s water system is outdated, overallocated, and dependent on an ecosystem that has been in crisis for years. Instead of pushing a 20th-century political pet project, the state should invest in modern, local water solutions that reduce reliance on imported surface water and protect communities from flooding.

By clinging to the narrative of “capturing” nonexistent excess water from the Sacramento River, the Newsom Administration is ignoring the true urgency of the Delta’s decline and the climate crisis that is threatening vulnerable communities. The plan’s focus on mitigation through an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) that is still incomplete and fundamentally inadequate only reinforces this misguided approach. The EIR fails to fully assess or mitigate species, habitat, and ecosystem impacts — and relies on a flawed baseline that continues to drive Delta ecosystem collapse.

This announcement also comes alongside the Administration’s coordinated push to reform the Bay-Delta Plan and enable the Voluntary Agreements (VAs) — an unscientific scheme that excludes tribes and communities and, according to the Department of Water Resources itself, is necessary to make the DCP operational.

Ultimately, this is a distraction. While the Governor attempts to rebrand the tunnel and deflect criticism, his administration is simultaneously pushing trailer bills to override environmental protections, court rulings, and public opinion. This pattern of excluding communities and fast-tracking destructive policies has become all too familiar. No amount of PR spin can cover up the fact that the DCP is a deeply flawed project — built on outdated assumptions, ignoring science, and failing to protect the people and ecosystems of the Delta.

STATEMENTS FROM DELTA TRIBES AND ADVOCATES:

Vice Chair Malissa Tayaba, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians:
“Delta tribes deserve a responsible and equitable approach to water management in the state that does not require jamming a tunnel through the Delta, destroying our ancestral homelands and waterways, or desecrating sacred sites and ancestral remains. Our culture and identities are intrinsically tied to the Delta. There is no price tag worth paying that would ever justify the harm done to us or the unquantifiable costs that Tribes and disadvantaged communities would ultimately bear.”

Gary Mulcahy, Governmental Liaison of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe:
“Where is the accountability for Governor Newsom who is once again circumventing law, when the people in the State  of California have made it clear that they do not want a tunnel through the Delta. Newsom has designated Tribes as a special interest group, but his accountability plan doesn’t address the harm that Tribes will experience from the tunnel and the Voluntary Agreements for tribal beneficial uses and tribal cultural resources of the Delta watershed.”

Gloria E. Alonso Cruz, Environmental Justice Advocacy Coordinator, Little Manila Rising:
“The Delta Conveyance Project is a large-scale water diversion infrastructure that neglects the foreseen climate needs of recognized Disadvantaged Communities (DACs). These communities are interconnected by the waterways and cross multiple jurisdiction lines. The Project has failed to recognize this adequately, nor has it established long-overdue protections before proposing the project. Healthy ecosystems are necessary to cultivate healthy and thriving communities in California’s largest estuary. As it stands, the project will only exacerbate current and future climate conditions in the most vulnerable portions of the Delta.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director, Restore the Delta:
“Governor Newsom is putting lipstick on a pig. His $100 billion tunnel will harm tribes and communities from Sacramento all the way down to Los Angeles. Let’s not forget: the U.S. EPA is still investigating a Title VI civil rights complaint against the Newsom administration over how the Water Board continues to violate civil rights in all of these linked processes. Once again, this shows Newsom’s water plan is for billionaires, not for everyday people.”

From the Southern California Water Coalition:

“The Southern California Water Coalition applauds the Newsom Administration and the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) for releasing the Delta Conveyance Project Accountability Action Plan and for establishing a $200 million Community Benefits Program for Delta communities.

This is a critical and timely response to the misleading narratives that opponents of this project have continued to push…narratives designed to delay, confuse, and obfuscate the true purpose and benefits of the Delta Conveyance Project. The facts are clear: this project is essential to securing California’s water future and will serve more than 27 million residents, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmland, and vital industries across our state.

For too long, critics have wrongly claimed that the concerns of Delta communities were being ignored. The Accountability Action Plan decisively refutes those claims. It outlines specific, trackable, and transparent commitments to local communities, demonstrating that the state is listening and taking action to avoid, minimize, or offset project impacts during construction. This includes the creation of an Ombudsman Office, Community Advisory Groups, and a proactive communications strategy, all designed to ensure that community voices are heard and respected throughout the process.

The Community Benefits Program, backed by a $200 million fund, underscores the Administration’s commitment to delivering real, lasting value to the people most affected by construction. This kind of forward-looking leadership ensures that infrastructure progress is balanced with social responsibility.

The Delta Conveyance Project will modernize our water delivery system, improve climate resilience, and better equip the State Water Project to capture and move water during high-flow events, all while strengthening earthquake protection for critical water infrastructure.

Southern California is downstream of the Delta. Our region and our economy depend on a reliable, secure water supply. We urge the Legislature to move swiftly to approve the budget trailer bill and empower the state to move this project forward without further unnecessary delay.

The time for action is now. The Delta Conveyance Project is not just a regional concern—it is a statewide imperative.”