Solano County ready to sue state over Delta tunnel EIR – Daily Republic 1/11/24

FAIRFIELD — Solano County will be working with three other counties and a couple of water districts to “initiate litigation challenging the final environmental impact report and project approval for the Delta Conveyance Project.”

…The county, in its most recent letter to the state Department of Water Resources, called the impact report “inadequate” in its response to the county’s concerns and how the project will mitigate a host of potential impacts.

“The (Final Environmental Impact Report) fails as an environmental document because DWR has failed to properly analyze and mitigate the project’s impacts. The project would result in significant impacts in a number of resources, including to agriculture, biological resources, groundwater, and traffic that DWR failed to properly disclose, analyze, and mitigate,” states the county letter signed by James Besek, the assistant director of the Department of Resource Management, and as of the new year, director of the agency.

Harder Leads Delta Region Colleagues in Effort to Block Federal Resources for Delta Tunnel – Rep. Harder PR 1/11/24
WASHINGTON – Today, Rep. Josh Harder (CA-9) led his Delta region colleagues in urging the US Bureau of Reclamation to deny Sacramento’s request for federal funding for the Delta Tunnel project. This is the first time the US Bureau of Reclamation has been asked to get involved in the Delta Tunnel project, which would open it up for federal support and funding. Harder was joined by four other Delta region Representatives: Reps. John Garamendi (CA-8), Mike Thompson (CA-4), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), and Doris Matsui (CA-7).

Last month, Harder led his colleagues in demanding the California Natural Resources Agency halt all Delta Tunnel activity following the release of its own troubling Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The report acknowledges what Harder and other Delta Tunnel opponents have known for years: the project threatens endangered fish populations, will destroy farmland, and harm water quality. Harder hosted multiple town halls after the Army Corps of Engineers refused to host their own in-person town hall to discuss the Delta Tunnel project.

“Read my lips: zero federal dollars should go to this terrible project. I will fight tooth and nail to stop this disaster from moving forward,” said Rep. Harder. “Delta communities are united in opposition to this water grab and we’ll keep using every avenue possible to stop Sacramento from stealing our water and shipping it down to Beverly Hills.”

Read Rep. Harder’s full letter here.

Newsom cuts $2.9 billion from California climate programs, delays an additional $1.9 billion – LA Times 1/11/24
… Presenting his proposal, Newsom indicated his administration will continue moving ahead with a long-term plan to build a giant water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, saying “there’s a lot of momentum” on that and other water infrastructure projects.

Environmental activists criticized the governor for pursuing the multibillion-dollar tunnel project while cutting other spending this year.

“It will waste at least $16 billion that could be spent on actual climate resilience projects,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta. “This is not serious climate water planning.”

C-WIN: Coming Clean: State Water Resources Control Board Finally Acknowledges “Paper Water” – California Water Impact Network 1/10/24

In a proposed update to a management plan for the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers and their shared Delta, the State Water Resources Control Board has finally acknowledged California’s water supplies are oversubscribed by 500%.

Aimed at protecting water quality and fisheries, the Board’s Phase II Flow Update stipulates flow volume and temperature targets for the Bay-Delta. The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the export point for both the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project, the massive water conveyance systems that send water to South State agribusiness operations and cities.

…“For the first time, the Board explicitly acknowledges what we’ve been saying for more than two decades,” Krieger continues. “Our work is predicated on the fact that California water rights claims exponentially outstrip supplies. That makes it impossible to craft and enforce workable water policy, ultimately leading to overcharged and underserved ratepayers, a devastated environment, and collapsing fisheries.”

…In other words, says Krieger, “There is a 500% disparity between the water that is claimed and the water that exists. In a 1994 report on the financing of the State Water Project for the California State Library, researcher Dennis O’Connor coined the term ‘paper water’ to describe this phantom water that is found in legal and government documents but not in our reservoirs and rivers. It’s fantasy water – a complete fabrication. And yet, it’s foundational to the catastrophic policies of both state and federal water project managers.”