HOOD - Gia Moreno of Hood spoke passionately about her commitment to stop the proposed Delta Tunnel at a public meeting hosted by the Delta Counties Coalition and Delta Legislative Caucus at the Willow Ballroom on Tuesday, Dec. 6
"I am a mother, an artist, an educator, and I’m tired. I’m tired of coming to these meetings,” Moreno testified. “I’m tired of hearing people from all over the state from all walks of life pour their hearts out in defense of the Delta, I’m tired of being one of those people, and I’m tired of the nonchalant responses that we receive in return. Even though I have become mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted from the last few years of this literal life or death fight, I can’t and won’t stop fighting."
Moreno was one of over 100 people, including many anglers and Stockton residents, who attended the event. Every person who spoke criticized the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Delta Conveyance Project because of the devastation they said it would cause to Delta communities, the ecosystem and fish and wildlife.
Kathy Miller, Chair of the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors, moderated the meeting.
A slide presentation given by attorney Osha Meserve outlined the big threat the tunnel poses: “The tunnel takes freshwater bypassing the ecosystem, equaling less water through the Delta; improves export water quality at the expense of water quality for Delta residents; and provides no incentive to help to protect and improve water quality in the Delta.”
The DEIR document, nearly 20,000 pages long, reveals that the tunnel will draw an additional 500,000 acre feet of water from the Sacramento River in normal years - and 200,000 to 300,000 acre feet in dry years.
Anglers, scientists and critics of the project say this would be catastrophic for Delta smelt, now on the edge of extinction in the wild, and spring-run, fall-run and winter-run Chinook salmon and a host of other species on the Sacramento River.
“The people and ecosystems of California do not need the tunnel,” said Daniel Armstrong, North Delta resident and angler. “The delta tunnel is a green washed infrastructure project that will be the nail in the coffin for threatened anadromous fish species, wildlife and delta communities.”
Jim Cox, a retired charter boat captain, noted how the slaughter of fish that occurs in Clifton Court Forebay because of the Delta pumps’ operation would continue 50 percent of the time, while the new export facilities proposed for the tunnel would create a new threat to fish.
“The biggest point I want to make is that Clifton Court, as long as it’s been in existence, has been the biggest fish-killing spot in the Delta: More fish die there than from pollution, or fishing, or anything else. It draws the predators in when the pumps are running, which these days is practically always, and the fish are entrained into Clifton Court and they cannot get out,” said Cox.
In his testimony, attorney Bob Wright said the Delta Tunnel DEIR is “the worst EIR” he has ever seen.
“You’re supposed to tell the truth. Why does the California Department of Water Resources not tell the truth? This is truly a terrible, terrible deception on the people of the Delta and the people of California,” Wright stated.
Cinthia Cortez, Climate Water Advocate for the Stockton-based Restore the Delta, said the proposed tunnel will “exacerbate current and very real issues in the Delta and its communities. The issues that are felt in Environmental Justice communities, in my community. In communities of minority and low income families that are discouraged from drinking the water that runs into their home and that cannot step outside their home to take a breath of fresh air.”
She noted that toxins from Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs) in the Delta are present in both water and air. “Aerosolized bloom toxins can cause respiratory issues in a community that already has extremely high levels of asthma. The construction of the tunnel will also introduce yet another source of air pollution to a community struggling with respiratory illnesses,” she explained.
Elected officials who spoke at the event included State Senator Bill Dodd, Assemblymembers Lori Wilson and Carlos Villapudua, San Joaquin County Supervisor Chuck Winn, Yolo County Supervisor Oscar Villegas and Sacramento County Supervisor-Elect Pat Hume.
Although invited, nobody from the Department of Water Resources attended the event, with a spokesperson saying it “would be inappropriate for the Department to respond to public comments made outside of the CEQA process.”
You can view the meeting video, courtesy of Gene Beley of Stockton, here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=JVi6-Q6kfHA
The comment period for the Delta Conveyance Project Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) closes TODAY, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022. You can comment by email at: deltaconveyancecomments@water.ca.gov.