FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2025
Contact:
Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org
Report ignores levee upgrades, repeats debunked claims to promote $100 billion Delta Conveyance Project
Sacramento, CA — Today, Restore the Delta and allies denounced the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) newly released State Water Project Adaptation Strategy, calling it a performative effort to justify the controversial Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), rather than a serious evaluation of adaptation strategies.
While framed as an “evaluation,” the report repeats long-debunked talking points to present the Delta tunnel as the “optimal solution” to climate and infrastructure challenges, while ignoring more urgent, cost-effective measures like strengthening Delta levees and repairing existing State Water Project infrastructure.
“Framed as an evaluation, this report is DWR’s self-validating push for the Delta Conveyance Project, touting debunked half-truths while ignoring the most obvious investment needed: upgrades to existing Delta levees that protect SWP infrastructure, Delta residents, and the nearly $7 billion Delta economy,” said Morgen Snyder, Policy Manager with Restore the Delta.
Among the report’s most concerning flaws:
- Overstated earthquake risk in the Delta, which independent experts have long warned is exaggerated to justify the tunnel.
- Cherry-picked climate science, with DWR continuing a “high concern” framing on sea level rise while downplaying alternative adaptation options.
- Failure to address Delta levee upgrades, despite clear evidence that continued land subsidence threatens both aqueducts and levees.
- Mischaracterization of flood and storage risks, framing natural river flows as “wasted” water rather than vital ecological functions.
- Repackaged stakeholder engagement promises, which echo past performative processes without meaningful input from Delta communities.
- Costly distractions from real needs, with DWR leaning on Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) goals to justify the tunnel instead of addressing unsustainable water use and groundwater recharge infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the report acknowledges key issues Restore the Delta has flagged for years – such as subsidence threatening the California Aqueduct – but still steers attention back to the tunnel rather than investing in levee improvements or aqueduct repairs.
“The actual path to a sustainable water future – one that provides safe, accessible, and affordable water to people and the environment – involves reducing unsustainable corporate agriculture, restoring river flows, and prioritizing urban infill development over suburban sprawl,” said Max Gomberg, Independent Water Expert. “The Governor can put out as many cherry-picked reports supporting his tunnel as he wants, but it won’t change the fact that the true beneficiaries are agribusiness, highly-paid water managers, and developers – and neither they nor the Governor care about the rate impacts on hardworking Californians and the environmental destruction it will cause.”
The Delta supports a nearly $7 billion local economy, including $5 billion in agriculture, $1.5 billion in commercial salmon fishing, and $780 million in recreation – an economy left out of DWR’s calculations.
Restore the Delta calls on Governor Newsom and DWR to invest first in repairing and upgrading existing Delta levees and aqueducts, restoring river flows and floodplains, and ensuring real accountability for water use – instead of doubling down on a $100 billion tunnel project that jeopardizes the Delta’s environment, economy, and communities.
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