Outrage Mounts Over Governor’s Abuse of Budget Process to Advance Water Grab
Stockton, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revise budget includes a dangerous suite of trailer bills that creates entirely new law and statutory carve outs specifically for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project by gutting public oversight, weakening environmental protections, and trampling on tribal sovereignty and community input. The Governor is pushing these legislative changes as part of a “streamlining” agenda, but advocates say it amounts to a Trump-style power grab — greenwashed with climate rhetoric — that sacrifices the Delta and working Californians to benefit powerful water agencies and corporate agriculture.
“Governor Newsom wants to be like Trump so bad he is fast tracking processes to get his own agenda done. Good job Donald Newsom,” said Gary Mulcahy, Governmental Liaison of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
“We know there are solutions that will restore and protect our sacred waterways and allow our people to maintain our culture and traditions while providing sufficient water for Southern California. Instead of pursuing those solutions, Governor Newsom is pushing the Delta Conveyance Project, which would destroy the remaining life in our Delta watershed and eco-cultural estuary,” said Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. “For a Governor who has apologized for the historic mistreatment of tribes, made verbal commitments to ‘right the wrongs of the past’, and supported environmental restoration and tribal stewardship in other regions of the state, the latest proposal to fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project, circumvent laws meant to protect tribal communities, and jeopardize tribal sacred sites and eco-cultural resources is yet another indication that detrimental impacts to tribes only matter if they do not impose on state water delivery infrastructure. We hope the legislature will see the value in our existence and stand up against the Governor’s Delta Conveyance proposals that would cause more irreparable harm to California tribal people.”
“The proposed trailer bill is a blatant attempt to codify illegal provisions to advance the Delta Tunnel. It’s a misuse of the budget process—bypassing legal requirements and undermining the public processes that are fundamental to our democracy,” said Cintia Cortez, Policy Program Manager, Restore the Delta. “As it stands, the project is incomplete, violates multiple laws, and could not legally move forward otherwise. Restore the Delta remains committed to defending Delta communities in the face of these flagrant efforts.”
The trailer bills would:
- Exempt State Water Board actions on the Bay-Delta Plan and other water quality control plans from CEQA, bypassing environmental review, public engagement, and additional scrutiny of the flawed Voluntary Agreements — cutting out science, public input, and community voices.
- Fast-track land acquisitions for tunnel construction by exempting the Department of Water Resources (DWR) from oversight by the Department of General Services.
- Short-circuit water rights proceedings that impact the Delta — even while Indigenous, environmental justice, and fishing communities continue calling for a pause and public review.
- Block judicial and administrative challenges from impacted Californians by limiting legal pathways to contest the tunnel.
- Overturn the “beneficiary pays” principle enshrined in the 2009 Delta Reform Act, paving the way for tunnel costs to be shifted onto the public despite a court injunction that currently bars DWR from issuing bonds for the project.
- Retroactively extend expired water rights — DWR’s water right permit expired in 2009, and our coalition has consistently argued it cannot be revived. The trailer bill attempts to rewrite history by extending the expiration date decades into the future, directly interfering with an ongoing legal proceeding and well-established restrictions on cold storage of water rights.
“This administration is catering to the same powerful agribusiness interests who have spent decades attacking environmental protections and funding anti-democratic agendas,” said Scott Webb, Director of Advocacy for the Resource Renewal Institute. “Fast-tracking the Delta Tunnel through the state budget takes power away from the legislature and is a slap in the face to Tribes, Delta communities, and everyday Californians who will pay the price.”
“The Governor’s proposal is a Trump-style attack on the salmon fishing industry and the state’s biggest rivers,” said Scott Artis, Executive Director of the Golden State Salmon Association. “At the end of the day, the Delta Tunnel is a nail in the coffin of California’s once mighty salmon runs, a stake in the heart of the Delta, and a raid on the pocketbooks of the people of Southern California and Silicon Valley.”
“There are all kinds of environmental reasons that Governor Newsom’s pet Delta tunnel project should never be built, and plenty of hurdles that stand in the way: its price tag, its questionable legality, and the lack of leadership within the governor’s own administration and those that came before him. Despite Governor Newsom’s temper tantrums, nothing justifies waiving the laws that protect San Francisco Bay, its fish and wildlife, and the clean water that belong to all Californians,” said Eric Buescher, San Francisco Baykeeper’s managing attorney. “Waiving California’s legal safeguards is simply not OK, and it’s sad when our leaders choose to ignore the laws rather than implement them faithfully. Such disregard for the law, public input, and judicial review is something we’d expect from the Trump administration, but it has no place in the Golden State.”
The economic argument for the tunnel remains dubious: at a projected $20.1 billion before interest, inflation, and overruns, the tunnel could ultimately cost Californians over $60 billion — in a state already facing a $16 billion revenue shortfall from federal tariffs. Meanwhile, income inequality in California has risen 9% since 2021, and the cost of living is up 23% since 2020, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
“Let’s be crystal clear: Californians are being asked to divert billions of dollars to benefit small, wealthy interests — jeopardizing the freshwater ecosystems that support our communities, fisheries and biodiversity,” said Ashley Overhouse, Water Policy Advisor for Defenders of Wildlife. “It is disappointing that Governor Newsom repeatedly goes against the will of most Californians by undermining our judges and legislators and attacking the Bay-Delta and our rivers.”
The proposed legislation is a sinister escalation of the administration’s tendency to promote its divert-baby-divert water policies as an absolute truth,” said Chris Shutes, Executive Director, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “The group-think goes like this: if we can’t get our way playing by the rules, then the rules must be wrong. So get rid of the rules and make special rules for our agencies and their projects. This is how bad law is made.”
“Gavin Newsom’s water agenda encapsulates his entire governorship – it is a series of policy and infrastructure decisions meant to benefit his selected communities cloaked in thinly veiled language of equity and sustainability. Newsom announced his plans to further the Delta Conveyance Project by ignoring crucial regulatory and judicial processes meant to protect endangered species, ensure community engagement in permitting, and stop rampant government overreach with eminent domain,” said Caty Wagner, Water Campaign Manager, Sierra Club California. “Moreover, he is working to roll back regulations on bond money so he can direct taxpayer money towards a project repeatedly rejected by voters. The announcement solidifies Newsom’s legacy as one catered to communities who do not face the brunt of the climate crisis.”
As the Governor touts California’s global economic ranking, experts warn that GDP growth alone is not a measure of prosperity or justice. “Growth” that leaves ecosystems collapsing, families struggling to pay water bills, and tribes shut out of decision-making is not progress.
“For too long, attempts to modernize our critical water infrastructure have stalled in the endless spin cycle of the governor’s expensive projects, while burdening the people of California with growing costs. We’re done with boondoggles – our state needs a sensible approach to water infrastructure that actually addresses our climate challenges as soon as possible,” said Jann Dorman, Executive Director of Friends of the River. “The Governors pet financial behemoth will land a cannonball dive into the limited pool of funds needed by water suppliers for rising maintenance costs, and new investments in conservation, water reuse, and recycling. We need to stop this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier, future. Let’s NOT get this project built.”
“We continue to be disappointed at the Governor’s singular focus on fast-tracking the expensive and ill-conceived Delta Conveyance Project,” said Bruce Reznik, Executive Director of LA Waterkeeper. “Local officials throughout Los Angeles have affirmed their commitment to resilient local water supplies, including Metropolitan Water District’s release of the Draft Environmental Impact Report for their Pure Water Southern California wastewater recycling project just yesterday, which follows shortly after the adoption of their Climate Adaptation Master Plan for Water last month. It’s time for Newsom to place environmental and community needs above his legacy project.”
“The Governor’s trailer bill would do far more than fast-track this unprecedented water conveyance project: It would create entirely new law specific to the State Water Project, allowing the State to perpetually hold onto water permits granted fifty years ago, despite the State’s failures to construct facilities, perfect its water rights, or pursue timely extensions. The implications for fundamental features of California water law would be profound,” explained Stephanie Safdi, Director of the Yale Environmental Justice Law and Advocacy Clinic, which serves as counsel for the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition in the Delta Conveyance Project proceeding. “The Governor’s proposed changes to statutory law attempt to entitle the Delta Conveyance Project by legislative fiat, notwithstanding injury to Delta Tribes, disadvantaged communities, and this already embattled ecosystem.”
Restore the Delta and its coalition partners are calling on California legislators to reject these trailer bills. Lawmakers must uphold environmental laws, respect tribal sovereignty, defend public participation, and prevent budget trickery that shifts the cost of the Delta Tunnel onto ratepayers and taxpayers.
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