New report reinforces the need for this critical project to be completed quickly
From the Office of the Governor:
A new report released today by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) examines how a combination of strategies, most importantly the Delta Conveyance Project, can help the State Water Project maintain reliable water deliveries to 27 million Californians despite hotter temperatures, more extreme storms, more severe droughts, and higher sea levels.
The report concludes that while climate change makes a long-term decline in annual average water deliveries likely, a portfolio of actions can offset much of the decline, including the completion of the Delta Conveyance Project . As part of the Governor’s work to prepare the state, he has proposed to fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project to ensure that Californians can continue to have reliable and sustainable water access.
“The science is clear: California must quickly complete the Delta Conveyance Project in order to meet our water needs in the future. It’s time to stop with the delays and fear tactics. We need Legislative approval to fast-track the benefits this project will secure.” –Governor Gavin Newsom
No piece of infrastructure is more fundamental to California’s water supply and economic success than the State Water Project, which is operated by the Department of Water Resources and captures, moves, and stores water used by 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland. Built starting in the 1960s, the SWP stretches from Oroville to Riverside and its canals, hydroelectric generators, and pumping plants move water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to 29 public water agencies, largely based in the South Bay, Central Coast, South Coast, Inland Empire, and Kern County. The local public water agencies cover the costs of operating the SWP.
Preparing California’s water infrastructure
Over the last few decades, the California climate has warmed, with the effects felt strongly in water resources. The state has already experienced a marked increase in the variability of precipitation, with wild swings from drought to flood.
Without action, the ability of the State Water Project to reliably deliver water to homes, farms and businesses will decline. The report published today, the first-ever State Water Project Adaptation Strategy assesses and details over a dozen different state actions to protect the state’s water supply through the State Water Project.
The report focuses on five actions to help the state successfully climate-proof California’s water supply through the State Water Project. California is expected to lose 10% of its water supply due to hotter and drier conditions by 2040, threatening the water supply for millions of Californians — and the reliability of the State Water Project could be reduced by as much as 23%.
The Delta Conveyance Project will help offset and recover these future climate-driven water losses, and yet, it has been plagued by delays and red tape.
The Delta Conveyance Project would expand the state’s ability to improve water supply reliability, while also maintaining fishery and water quality protections. During atmospheric rivers last year, the Delta Conveyance Project could have captured enough water for 9.8 million people’s yearly usage.
The most promising action to improve water supply reliability is the construction of the Delta Conveyance Project for the following reasons:
- The project is the single most effective strategy on its own, but it also amplifies the impact of other strategies.
- The project would safeguard water deliveries from disruption in the event of levee collapse in the Delta and would enable the SWP to capture more storm runoff.
- Additionally, the project would help prevent water delivery disruptions by providing protection against earthquakes and other climate-related disasters.
“Anything that compromises the State Water Project poses a threat to public health and economic success,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “This analysis helps us understand the best science-based strategies to ensure continued State Water Project deliveries in the face of both greater aridity and more powerful storms. We need that not just for the public water agencies that pay for the State Water Project, but to continue the role the State Water Project plays in protecting Delta water quality during drought and upstream communities during floods.”
The State Water Project Adaptation Strategy will guide executive decision-making about the future needs and capabilities of the State Water Project. The plan bundles potential strategies into portfolios and evaluates those portfolios over a range of potential climate conditions.
The State Water Project Climate Adaptation Strategy also finds that:
- Continued maintenance and additional restoration of the infrastructure system, including repairing subsidence-damaged sections of the California Aqueduct, are first-priority measures.
- “Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations” is a safe and effective strategy with low costs and few drawbacks, but the amount of water supply it can deliver is relatively small. It should be implemented as soon as possible in coordination with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approvals.
- Additional South-of-Delta water storage is promising as a third priority strategy, but its benefits are limited without the Delta Conveyance Project.
- A combination of responses is needed, because each strategy responds to a different climate stressor. Utilizing a combination of different strategies will result in greater climate adaptation capabilities.
DWR will continue to update and optimize the adaptation strategies evaluated and innovate new strategies in partnership with the SWP contractors, other state and federal partners and local and regional agencies.
Removing unnecessary red tape
Governor Newsom first announced his commitment to the project during his first State of the State, modernizing the previous administration’s plans to address seismic and reliability issues and ensure that this critical piece of infrastructure could be built quickly and without delay. The Governor has led efforts to move the DCP forward, including DWR’s certification of a final environmental impact report in December 2023 and securing financial support from water agencies throughout the state serving a majority of Californians. And while the project has received some necessary permits, its path forward is burdened by complicated regulatory frameworks and bureaucratic delays. The Governor is proposing to streamline and strengthen the project’s path forward, to protect the state’s water supply for future generations.
The importance of protecting the reliability of the State Water Project is too great to allow the Delta Conveyance Project to be mired by unnecessary and extensive delays. The Governor’s proposal would streamline the project by simplifying permitting, confirming funding authority, preventing unnecessary delays, and supporting construction.
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