For Immediate Release:
April 3, 2024
Contact:
Alexandra Nagy, alexandra@sunstonestrategies.org, 818-633-0865
Rejection of the Delta Conveyance Project is essential to advance equity and prioritize frontline and tribal communities
Stockton, Calif — The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the final version of the California Water Plan which asserts equity for “frontline communities,” yet ignores the negative impacts key projects will have on them, like the Delta Conveyance Project. Along with the plan, Governor Gavin Newsom vowed to get the project permitted prior to the end of his term.
In response, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, says, “Governor Newsom cannot claim to put water equity and frontline communities at the forefront of his plans while ignoring the catastrophic impact the tunnel will have on environmental justice communities that rely on the Delta for drinking water, food via fishing and farming, and recreation.”
“Dedicating a full chapter to tribal perspectives in the water plan is a start,” Barrigan-Parrilla says, “but the plan fails to protect tribal water rights for those who have stewarded Delta waterways and relied on the Delta for cultural, religious, and subsistence practices essential to tribal identity. We urge the governor to truly and adequately safeguard equity for frontline and tribal communities and prioritize the Bay-Delta Plan over boondoggle projects like the Delta tunnel.”
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