Gov. Gavin Newsom and some of California’s major water agencies hit a setback this week when a proposal to fast-track plans for a 45-mile water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta died in the state Legislature.
Newsom has been trying to streamline legal and environmental review of the proposed water tunnel through budget measures that also would give the state authority to issue bonds to pay for the project.
Delta lawmakers said they were pleased that the governor’s proposal failed to move forward in the final days of the legislative session.
Sen. Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) called it a “major victory for California and the Delta.”
“The tunnel project not only would devastate much of the Delta region, but is also unaffordable and unnecessary,” McNerney said. “It’s very expensive. It’s very damaging to the environment.”
He said the Newsom administration and supporters of the proposed Delta Conveyance Project had been trying to get legislators on board, “but they still just didn’t have the total support they’d need to get this through.”
Newsom can try again next year. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The State Water Contractors, an association of water agencies, said the governor’s proposal would streamline review, reduce costs and prevent unnecessary delays, but that it was “caught up in the crush of high-profile legislative activities,” at the end of the session.
“Even if action is delayed this year, the need for modern delta conveyance has never been greater, and the sooner we are able to make a decision on construction, the less that construction will cost,” said Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors.
The state estimates the project would cost $20.1 billion, while opponents say it could cost three times more.
Newsom and supporters of the project say the tunnel is essential to modernize the state’s water system for more severe droughts and deluges with climate change, and to withstand sea level rise and the risks of a major earthquake in the region.
Opponents, including environmental advocates, fishing groups and tribal leaders, argue the project would harm the Delta’s communities and ecosystem, and further threaten native fish that are already in decline.
Leaders of 40 environmental, fishing and tribal groups wrote to legislative leaders last week opposing what they called Newsom’s “unconscionable attempt to override our democratic processes and public opinion.”
They say the state should instead invest in different types of solutions, including recycling more wastewater, storing more water underground and strengthening aging levees in the Delta.
Scott Artis, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Assn., called the death of the effort a significant win, saying the governor’s proposal would “gut environmental protections, eliminate due process, and lock in a water grab that could finish off already imperiled salmon runs.”
Commercial fishing for Chinook salmon has been banned along the California coast for the last three years for lack of fish, while a limited recreational fishing season was permitted this year after a two-year closure.
State officials defend the Newsom administration’s efforts to help salmon populations recover, include restoring tidelands, removing barriers that block fish migration and reintroducing salmon in traditional spawning areas upstream from dams.
The tunnel would create a second route to transport water from new intakes on the Sacramento River to the south side of the Delta, where pumps send water into the aqueducts of the State Water Project and onward to cities and farmland.
Newsom, who is set to leave office after 2026, has said the project is essential for the state’s future and has made it a central priority. State officials have said that during wet years, having the tunnel would enable the state to capture more water.
Supporters, including business advocates and local water officials, say the project would ensure the water reliability for Southern California’s economy. In a letter in June, a coalition of water agencies, business and labor groups and other supporters said that for decades the project “has been stalled by frivolous lawsuits and duplicative reviews.”
Agencies that have supported the project with funding for initial preconstruction and planning work include major urban water suppliers such as the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, as well as San Joaquin Valley agricultural water agencies including Kern County Water Agency and Dudley Ridge Water District.
Californians for Water Security, a coalition of local governments, business groups, labor unions and other supporters, said it was disappointing that negotiations to advance the governor’s proposal in the Legislature stalled.
“While we are saddened that the bill did not move forward this year, we are encouraged by the massive support,” the group said in a written statement. “Climate change remains a threat, and work on the Delta Conveyance Project will continue. Our work isn’t done until this urgently needed project is operational and making our water supply safe for all Californians.”
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