The Delta Legislative Caucus and the Delta Counties Coalition will be hosting an in-person meeting in the Delta regarding the Delta Tunnel on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., at the Willow Ball Ballroom, 10724 CA 160, Hood CA.
The meeting will provide an overview of the $16-plus billion Delta Conveyance project, and provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Comments on the EIR are due Friday, December 16, 2022.
“The proposed Delta Tunnel project involves constructing new water intake facilities on the Sacramento River in the north Delta, as well as a single tunnel that would divert freshwater flows before they are able to reach the Delta,” said Molly Colton of Sierra Club California. “The water would be shipped to large farming operations and water wholesalers south of the Delta, and is expected to have a capacity to divert up to 6,000 cubic feet per second of water. The project is estimated to cost between $16-40 billion - paid for by taxpayers - and won’t be completed until at least 2042.”
The draft EIR examines the environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation of the Delta tunnel. The document is nearly 20,000 pages long and has 39 chapters.
“Over the past several months, Sierra Club California and other water activists have been reviewing chapters relating to transportation, utilities, energy, air quality, greenhouse gases, climate change, and environmental justice impacts of the proposed Delta tunnel project,” Colton stated.
“This is an in-person meeting and there will not be an option to attend remotely. If you cannot attend the meeting in-person, you can submit your comment directly to the Department of Water Resources by signing our petition here,” she added.
Annafina Swenson of North Delta Cares further explained the purpose behind the meeting.
“Since the Resources Agency and DWR refuse to hold an in-person meeting in the Delta, members of the Legislative Delta Caucus and the Delta Counties Coalition will hold a meeting to listen to constituent concerns about the DEIR, record those concerns and submit them for the record by the comment deadline,” said Swenson.
“Constituent/stakeholders’ comments will be recorded by a court reporter. Before hearing participant comments, a Delta expert will give a brief description and status of the Tunnel project. The meeting will be held in the town of Hood at the Willow Ballroom, on the Sacramento River, on 12/6,” she noted.
On September 19, Representative Josh Harder (D CA-10) introduced a bill in Congress to prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing a federal permit necessary for the State of California to build the Delta Conveyance Project, also known as the Delta Tunnel.
Harder’s bill, the Stop the Delta Tunnels Act, is co-sponsored by Representative John Garamendi (D CA-3).
“The Delta Tunnel is a zombie project. Every time we kill it, the Governor brings it back. My bill will put an end to this $16 billion boondoggle once and for all and make sure every drop of Valley water stays right here where it belongs,” said Rep. Harder.