Governor Gavin Newsom’s campaign to build the Delta Tunnel amped up on Feb. 19 when the Governor sent a letter to the State Water Resources Control Board claiming that the petition to amend water rights permits to accommodate the proposed Delta Conveyance Project, AKA Delta Tunnel, would be in the “compelling public interest.”
The Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC) quickly responded to the Governor’s Letter, disputing Newsom’s claims that the Delta Tunnel would be in the public interest — and would instead further destroy a sensitive Bay-Delta ecosystem that has already been decimated by massive water diversions, driving Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations closer and closer to extinction.
Newsom’s letter said the preceding two Governors, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown, have supported a Delta conveyance project of some sort because California’s prosperity supposedly depends on it.
“The local water agencies that pay for the State Water Project are diversifying their water sources and getting increasingly efficient, but they cannot fully replace foundational State Water Project deliveries that supply nearly half the water people use in the South Bay, Central Coast, San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California. Some water districts in those regions depend entirely on State Water Project supplies,” the letter states.
Governor Newsom says the impacts of climate change will bring thirsty plants, drier soils, and a warmer atmosphere that will, in turn, cause annual deliveries from the State Water Project to decline. At the same time, the intensity of the largest storms is increasing.
“We must adapt. New infrastructure could ameliorate the decline in State Water Project supplies by capturing excess flow from big but infrequent storms. That is one of the many key benefits of the Delta Conveyance Project: It would increase the opportunities to save storm runoff for drier times,” Newsom gushed.
He also claimed that the latest iteration of the project has a shrunken footprint and avoids or reduces the effects of noise, air quality, traffic, power, and land use, among others — and called the project “the most important climate adaptation project we can undertake for future Californians.”
“The proposal before you has been thoughtfully refined to protect the environment, fisheries, ecosystems, water quality, and water supply,” Newsom wrote. “We share the task of balancing public trust resources and the many beneficial uses of water. I have considered the Delta Conveyance Project carefully and am convinced that the reach of the State Water Project and the essential nature of water make it the most important climate adaptation project we can undertake for future Californians. I urge you to weigh this compelling public interest carefully when considering DWR’s petitions.”
DTEC: Delta Tunnel will reduce average flow to Delta
In response, the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC) issued a statement calling the DCP is the “complete opposite” of a project that has been “refined to protect the environment, fisheries, ecosystems, water quality and water supply” but rather a project that will further decimate the Delta.
“In actuality, operation of the DCP will reduce the monthly average water flow to the Delta in nearly all months, especially in drought, and even in wet years,” the DCP stated. “Given current insufficient flows have led to an ecological crisis in the Delta, further reductions in water flow will cause inevitable and unreasonable harm to fish and wildlife and to other beneficial uses that impact communities throughout Northern California. Reducing freshwater flows and further starving the estuary is not a ‘compelling public interest’ as noted in the letter by Governor Newsom.”
Referring to the DCP, Newsom says that “California’s prosperity depends on it.”
“Yet, California’s prosperity will not benefit from a more than $20 billion project that will be footed by tax payers and Southern California water rates. Local officials that rely on the State Water Project are becoming increasingly aware that they do not need the Delta tunnel to achieve water resilience,” the DTEC pointed out.
The Coalition said idea of a tunnel persists and each past iteration, including the peripheral canal, Bay Delta Conservation Plan, and twin tunnels, has been struck down because it is not the right solution for California.
“The governor continues to exaggerate the benefits while minimizing the real cost of the DCP — a devastated Delta that disadvantaged and marginalized communities depend on for the benefit of those with privilege, wealth and power,” the DTEC noted.
Delta Tunnel doesn’t benefit anybody except Big Ag and south of Delta water agencies
Representatives of the Tribes and groups blasted the Governor’s letter.
"Why does Governor Newsom continue to think Californians and Tribes are stupid?,” said Gary Mulcahy, Government Liaison for the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. “There is nothing about the Delta Tunnel Project that significantly benefits anyone except Big Ag and south of the Delta water agencies, while putting endangered species, tribal cultural resources, and disadvantaged communities and the viability of the S.F Bay-Delta itself at risk."
“Just because the Governor thinks the Delta Conveyance Project is worthy does not mean it should be approved,” stated Malissa Tayaba, Vice Chair for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians. “Tribes, Delta communities, environmental and fishing organizations and others opposed to the project have valid concerns. We need a better solution that improves tribal water access and the health of the largest estuary on the West Coast."
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director for Restore the Delta, noted that the Delta’s fishing, recreation, and agriculture industries contribute $5 billion to California’s economy each year.
“Sacrificing our communities and environment just to replenish overdrawn groundwater supplies is a failure of both economic and environmental planning. Governor Newsom is selling out Northern California to benefit Southern California, but governing isn’t about choosing winners and losers – he’s supposed to represent all Californians,” Barrigan-Parrilla concluded.
The Governor’s letter promoting his Delta Tunnel couldn’t come at a worse time for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Zero Delta smelt, an indicator species that has been villainized by Donald Trump and his corporate agribusiness allies, have been caught in the CDFW’s Fall Midwater Trawl Survey in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for the seventh year in a row: nrm.dfg.ca.gov/...
Meanwhile, salmon fishing on California’s ocean and river waters has been closed for the past two years and may be closed again this year, due to the collapse of Sacramento River and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations. Likewise, Sacramento River winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon are moving closer and closer to extinction, due to massive water exports from the Delta and other factors, including invasive species, toxics and water pollution.
The Sacramento Perch, the only native sunfish found west of the Rocky Mountains, became extinct in its former native habitat in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by the 1970s. However, the fish is thriving in Crowley and Bridgeport Reservoirs in California and Pyramid Lake in Nevada where it was transplanted. The fish was recently introduced to a pond in Sacramento County.
Conservationists and scientists say the Delta Tunnel, by diverting more water from the Sacramento River before it flows through the Delta, will only further exacerbate the critical situation that Delta fish species and Central Valley salmon populations are now in.
Follow the money!
You may ask “Why is Newsom so dedicated to building the Delta Tunnel?”
It might have something to do with the fact that Beverly Hills agribusiness billionaires Stewart and Lynda Resnick, the owners of the Wonderful Company, are among the largest contributors to Gavin Newsom and hosted his 2022 anti-recall campaign fundraising letter. The Resnicks have pushed for increased water exports from the Delta for agribusiness and the construction of the Delta Tunnel for many years.
The Resnicks have donated a total of $431,600 to Governor Gavin Newsom since 2018, including $250,000 to Stop The Republican Recall Of Governor Newsom and $64,800 to Newsom For California Governor 2022.
Newsom received a total of $755,198 in donations from agribusiness in the 2018 election cycle, based on the data from www.followthemoney.org. That figure includes a combined $116,800 from Stewart and Lynda Resnick and $58,400 from E.J. Gallo, the owner of the Gallo Wines empire, combined with $579,998 in the agriculture donations category.
But their campaign contributions are just pocket change to the money that they donated to the state’s universities through their Resnick Foundation. In 2019 they made a donation of $750 million to CalTech and in 2022 made a $50 million donation to UC Davis, in addition to contributing millions to UCLA, CSU Fresno and other universities over the years.
The Resnicks have donated many millions of dollars to both the Democratic and Republican parties and to candidates for both parties over the years. They were instrumental in the creation of the Monterey Amendment, a 1994 pact between Department of Water Resources and State Water Project contractors, that allowed them to obtain their 57 percent stake in the Kern Water Bank: https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/monterey-amendment
