FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 15, 2025
Contact:
Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org
Leela Yadav, leela@sunstonestrategies.org
Newsom’s fast-tracking of legislation will override due process on the controversial Delta Conveyance Project
Stockton, Calif. — Today, Restore the Delta held a virtual press conference alongside Tribes and environmental advocates to address the planned reintroduction of the controversial Delta Tunnel trailer bills at the behest of the Newsom administration. The bills have drawn widespread criticism from groups across the state, who are concerned that the proposals threaten California’s water rights, environmental protections, and public due process.
“Our tribe is dedicated to maintaining and protecting our cultural ways of life. Decisions about water management should analyze impacts to tribes, and seek to avoid and minimize those impacts. The Governor’s proposed trailer bills would eliminate that analysis, undermining our ability to maintain our culture and traditions. True accountability requires transparency and meaningful commitment to a future that protects tribes and our waterways,” said Vice Chair Malissa Tayaba with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians.
The Metropolitan Water District (MWD), the largest wholesale water agency with a vested interest in the Delta Tunnel, has confirmed the trailer bills will be reintroduced after legislative summer recess ends. These bills aim to expedite the $100 billion Delta Tunnel project while undermining water quality standards for the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary.
“Apparently we need a No Kings act passed in California in order to put the Governor in his place. Time after time, organization after organization, tribe after tribe, farmer after farmer, disadvantaged community after disadvantaged community, elected official after elected official, and on and on, have said that the Delta Conveyance Project and the trailer bills that would change California law to help build it, are not wanted, not needed, and devastatingly destructive. Yet, King Newsom continues to push ahead with his personal agenda,” said Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
“We can have affordable water and a healthy Delta, but not if we continue existing unsustainable levels of agricultural water use and development in the desert. Governor Newsom is attempting to place his thumb on the scale to keep water flowing to big donors,” said Max Gomberg, Senior Policy Advisor and Board Member with California Water Impact Network. “If he succeeds, ratepayers and the environment will suffer the consequences. The legislature should stand up against this power grab.”
Additionally, the State Water Board’s proposed updates to the Bay-Delta Plan — including “voluntary agreements” with water districts — have sparked criticism from Tribes, environmental justice groups, and conservationists. These agreements are another move by the Newsom administration to weaken regulatory protections and limit critical river flows and funding to keep the Delta ecosystem from collapsing.
“Voluntary agreements are nothing more than a loophole for water agencies to bypass essential environmental protections”, said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “These deals would result in self-regulation by the very industries that have contributed to the Delta’s decline. Instead of prioritizing science-based solutions for water management, these agreements are a dangerous shortcut that will harm the Delta ecosystem and the communities that depend on it.”
The press conference featured a range of speakers who outlined the coordinated political efforts by Governor Newsom’s administration to fast-track these controversial measures. Advocates warned that these efforts would bypass public input and pose significant risks to California’s water future and the Delta ecosystem.
“California cannot afford to backslide, and to see the Newsom Administration propose to do so through profoundly disappointing budget trailer bills sets the course for disaster in the Bay-Delta Estuary,” said Defenders of Wildlife Water Policy Advisor Ashley Overhouse. “If these legislative proposals become law, environmental reviews are off the table in an already overallocated water system with decades of outdated quality standards. We ask the Legislature to reject these unlawful proposals and stand up for our state’s natural heritage, our wildlife and our communities.”
“Governor Newsom’s Delta Tunnel doesn’t comply with state law. State Court rulings show that DCP fails to satisfy requirements of the Delta Reform Act and DWR’s bonding authority, and it has been challenged under CEQA in ongoing proceedings,” said Ben Eichenberg, Senior Staff Attorney with San Francisco BayKeeper. “Furthermore, the water rights DWR wants to use for the Tunnel expired two and a half decades ago. Governor Newsom’s response to DWR’s multiple failures is to eliminate any law that his $60 Billion Delta Tunnel can’t comply with. Our laws are our values and our protection against wasteful, expensive, and ill conceived projects like the Delta Tunnel. Eliminating laws when they become inconvenient is what dictators and kings do — California deserves better from its elected leaders.”
As the reintroduction of these trailer bills draws nearer, advocates remain committed to opposing what they see as an alarming push to prioritize special water and agricultural interests over environmental health, public rights, and Tribal sovereignty. Local communities, environmental organizations, and Tribes are joining forces to resist the efforts to undermine vital protections for the Bay-Delta and its watershed.
“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,” said Barry Nelson, Policy Advisor at Golden State Salmon Association. “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.”
“We have a choice. Behind door #1 is the push for the Triple Threat of the Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and the Voluntary Agreements, costing hundreds of billions of dollars for outdated dams and canals that will rarely be full, weakening the rules that protect water quality, fisheries, and ecosystems, and making it harder for Californians to review, comment on, or challenge these bad decisions. Behind door #2 is widespread interest across California in investing money on affordable local actions to conserve, reuse, and recycle water, capture storm runoff, and other solutions that reduce reliance on unreliable, expensive imported water, and make it easier to protect the quality of our water, the health of our rivers and the people who enjoy and depend on them. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Let’s make the right choice now,” said Gary Bobker, Program Director with Friends of the River.
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