FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2025
Contact:
Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org
Sacramento, CA – Tribal leaders and environmental justice advocates met with legislators today for the 2025 Day of Action for Water Justice, urging lawmakers to reject Governor Newsom’s proposed trailer bills that would fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project and bypass critical environmental protections.
The day-long event began with power meetings between Tribal members, environmental advocates and legislators to urge support for equitable, science-based water solutions that protect the Bay-Delta and to reject the financially reckless Delta Conveyance Project that threatens ecosystems, Tribal sovereignty, and public health.
Advocates cited a recent report published by the California Water Impact Network prepared by ECOnorthwest that estimates the project could in reality cost anywhere from $60 to over $100 billion – three to five times higher than the approximately $20 billion that the Department of Water Resources is claiming. These skyrocketing costs would largely fall to ratepayers across California. The Metropolitan Water District, serving 19 million people in Southern California, already proposes up to 14% in rate hikes to support tunnel planning and construction, placing even greater burdens on working families.
At the press conference on the Capitol steps, advocates called on lawmakers to reject trailer bills that would provide CEQA exemptions for the Delta Conveyance Project, circumventing existing law, court rulings and public opinion. Specifically, the coalition called on lawmakers to:
- Vote NO on SB 72 which undermines the Delta Reform Act and sets arbitrary water supply targets;
- Vote YES on AB 362 which protects tribal beneficial uses of water and to;
- Vote YES on AB 263, extending emergency protections currently in place for the Scott and Shasta Rivers, a high priority for the recovery of coho salmon.
Speakers at the press conference included tribal representatives from the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Winnemem Wintu Tribe as well as elected leaders and representatives from Restore the Delta, Sierra Club California, Friends of the River, Defenders of Wildlife and the Delta Counties Coalition.
Statements from tribal leaders and environmental advocates:
“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.”
Vice Chair Malissa Tayaba with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians
“There is nothing about the Delta Tunnel Project that significantly benefits anyone except Big Ag and south of the Delta water agencies, while putting endangered species, tribal cultural resources, and disadvantaged communities and the viability of the S.F Bay-Delta itself at risk. CEQA exemptions continue to attempt to erase Tribes from water governance.”
Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe
“The Delta Counties are not trying to deprive anyone of Delta water supplies. Rather, we are asking for smarter investments in resilient water projects. Regarding the major changes in law proposed by the Governor through the state budget to make way for the Tunnel, we ask that there be a transparent and robust process to vet these proposals through the normal legislative process.”
Pat Hume, Chair of the Delta Counties Coalition
“Public opinion points to the need for local, sustainable water solutions – not a $100 billion dollar tunnel that will cost Southern California ratepayers and the Delta economy alike. Introducing trailer bills that circumvent existing law, court rulings and public opinion to advance the Delta Tunnel is bad policy, and at a minimum, deserves rigorous policy review in the legislature.”
Morgen Snyder, Policy Manager, Restore the Delta
“California’s salmon fishing economy has been shut down for 3 years because of unsustainable water diversions. The Delta tunnel would worsen that problem by sucking much more water through this massive 36 foot diameter tunnel. Fishing jobs are not the only human impact from the crash of the Bay-Delta ecosystem. Delta communities and tribes are also suffering. We are here today united in opposition to this damaging boondoggle. It’s decades past time for the State Water Board to update their failed 30 year old standards to protect salmon and the Bay-Delta ecosystem.”
Barry Nelson, Policy Advisor, Golden State Salmon Association
As a resident of LA County, I don’t want to see our already high water bills and property taxes, or rent, go up any further to pay for the expensive and unnecessary Delta Conveyance Project. The Department of Water Resources predicted the project would cost $20 billion, but a new report from California Water Impact Network found that it will actually cost closer to $60-100 billion. Metropolitan Water District is already doubling water rates this year and next, and raising property taxes, just to pay for the planning phase of the project. I can’t imagine how high rates will be to pay for the actual construction of the project, especially with the true cost revealed, and MWD knows that it will be unreasonably high or they would not have fought so hard to try to pass those sneaky trailer bills last month, or push for them to resurface next month. We cannot see AB or SB 131 pass. The cost of living in California is too high, the impact to Tribes and EJ communities is too great, and we should instead be investing in water recycling for more communities to ensure a reliable source of water in the future.
Caty Wagner, Water Campaign Manager, Sierra Club California
“Decades of backroom water deals have hidden how California hands water to the wealthy, and harms the public’s right to clean water and thriving fish and wildlife populations. Today, Governor Newsom is continuing that sad history, by pushing budget trailer bills that will hide the latest water giveaways from legislative and judicial review. Water business-as-usual will irreparably harm California’s tribes, fishing businesses, and San Francisco Bay’s seven imperiled fish species. The state must adopt science-based safeguards for its water and its people — Governor Newsom can’t hide that truth any longer.”
Jon Rosenfield, Ph.D. Science Director, San Francisco Baykeeper
“There’s no argument that California needs to take swift and decisive actions to fight climate change. But the last thing our state needs is to push through projects that would actually worsen climate change impacts, while harming the environment and costing Californians billions of dollars. The legislature needs to resist efforts by Governor Newsom and special interests that would fast track boondoggles like the Delta Tunnel, and rob citizens of the chance to ensure that new projects actually solve our economic and environmental challenges.”
Keiko Mertz, Policy Director, Friends of the River
“Instead of prioritizing water affordability and protecting vulnerable communities, Governor Newsom is pushing a Delta tunnel that will break the bank and going on podcasts to throw trans kids under the bus. He is unfit to hold any elected office ever again.”
Max Gomberg, Senior Policy Advisor, California Water Impact Network
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