On Wednesday, a coalition of Tribal leaders and environmental organizations, including Restore the Delta, released the Water Renaissance Plan, a new roadmap to shift California away from expensive, unreliable water imports toward local, sustainable solutions that deliver affordable, reliable water supplies.
For decades, California has relied on moving water long distances across the state, harming ecosystems and leaving communities dependent on costly and increasingly unreliable supplies.
Barry Nelson of the Golden State Salmon Association told Northern California Public Media, “The Sacramento River has experienced in the last 20 years a 95 percent decline in wild spawning salmon, the salmon that are actually the backbone of salmon fishing. It’s the most important salmon river in California. That crash is because of excessive water diversions.”
The new plan lays out an alternative path focused on reducing reliance on imported water and costly boondoggles like the Delta Tunnel, while investing in resilient local supplies that protect both communities and ecosystems.
“It’s past time to focus our limited dollars on water infrastructure investments that are sustainable for both urban and rural farming communities, respect Tribal water and land uses, and will allow keystone species like salmon to recover,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director at Restore the Delta. “We can create improved water supplies and restore the largest estuary on the West Coast.”
As Politico reported, speakers at the press conference unveiling the Renaissance Plan were united in opposition to both the Delta tunnel and Sites Reservoir, describing them as expensive, outdated strategies. Instead, advocates pointed to wastewater recycling, stormwater capture, and conservation as more sustainable alternatives, while emphasizing that restoring the Delta is essential to protecting ecosystems and ensuring long term water reliability.
Learn more about the Water Renaissance Plan here.
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