Gov. Newsom Applauds Trump Regime for Advancing Delta Conveyance Project Construction

SACRAMENTO – California Governor Gavin Newsom, who often styles himself as the "resistance" to President Donald Trump, today applauded the Trump Administration's approval of a key federal permit needed to construct the Delta Tunnel.

The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) received "Biological Opinions" from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) greenlighting Delta Conveyance Project construction and construction-related maintenance activities, according to a statement from the Governor's Office.

“The science is clear," Newsom claimed. "California must quickly complete the Delta Conveyance Project to meet our water needs in the future. I thank the federal government for their partnership in moving this project forward."

"By meeting this important milestone, we are closer than ever to seeing this vital piece of infrastructure completed and benefiting all Californians. Let’s get this built," Newsom gushed.

"This important milestone marks the completion of the Endangered Species Act process for construction," the Department of Water Resources added, echoing Newsom's statement. "California is now one critical step closer to completing the complex state and federal planning and permitting processes needed to begin project implementation."

Newsom has constantly portrayed the tunnel as a "climate resilience" project.

"The Delta Conveyance Project is vital to ensuring that California can continue to provide water to all of its residents through the State Water Project, which moves, and stores water used by 27 million people and 750,000 acres of farmland," according to the Governor's Office. "California is expected to lose 10% of its water supply due to hotter and drier conditions by 2040, threatening the water supply for millions of Californians — and the reliability of the State Water Project could be reduced by as much as 23%. The Delta Conveyance Project will help offset and recover these future climate-driven water losses."

In response to the Governor, Delta Tunnel opponents noted the concurrence between Trump and Newsom on water management in California, despite their alleged "differences."

Restore the Delta’s Executive Director, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, cited the announcement as "further proof that Governor Newsom holds the same values regarding California water management as the Trump Administration."

"The Governor is influencing every regulatory process for his corporate agenda hoping the next Governor will continue with these special interest, big water projects like the Delta Conveyance Project," Barrigan-Parrilla said. "Left, right, and center, the majority of Californians do not support the Delta tunnel or the water grab. They do support plans like the Water Renaissance Plan."

She added, "If the top two gubernatorial candidates line up with Governor Newsom on water, they will lose a great deal of public support from voters."

Restore the Delta further reiterated that Governor Newsom’s approach to water resources management "fails the tests of morality, fairness, affordability, and protection for everyday Californians. Under this administration, the Delta has not only been neglected, it has been placed at even greater risk by policies that continue to endanger the region, its communities, and its future."

Frank Egger, President of the North Coast Rivers Alliance, agreed with Restore the Delta in their assessment of the Governor's elation over the federal action.

"Of course the Feds want the Delta Tunnel, too," observed Egger. "Water from Northern California rivers is needed for Data Centers in the Central Valley and Westlands Water District's customers to grow pistachios and almonds to export and wine grapes they can't even sell."

Michael McKaskle took issue with the Governor's claim that the "science is clear" regarding allowing construction of the Delta Tunnel.

"He must mean some sort of pseudo-science of corporate influence," said McKaskle. "The biological science is clear that the Delta is being starved of fresh water and this project will make it worse. The economic science is clear that it will be a boondoggle and cost California more than using what we already have more wisely and efficiently."

Roger Mammon, President of the California Striped Bass Association, West Delta Chapter, and Secretary of the Restore the Delta Board of Directors also responded to the Governor's announcement.

"The Governor still touts the DCP that still has no clear funding, has its water contractors pulling back on financial support, faces a possible audit of its spending, and is based on expired permits," noted Mammon.

Finally, Tim Stroshane, the author of Drought, Water Law, and the Origins of California’s Central Valley Project, stated, “The governor says without the Delta tunnel the State Water Project’s ability to deliver reliable supplies will decline, but he ignores the fact that even with the $60 billion dollar tunnel the project’s ability to deliver water will decline from climate change. And the state will be $60 billion poorer because of it.”

In other Delta Tunnel news, California Water Impact Network Senior Policy Advisor Max Gomberg and ECONorthwest Senior Economist Mark Buckley are scheduled to testify this Wednesday during the rebuttal phase of State Water Resources Control Board administrative hearings on the proposed Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), also known as the Delta Tunnel.

The testimony from Gomberg and Buckley refutes claims by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Contractors (SWC) that the DCP is essential for ensuring water supply reliability, according to a press release from the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN).

Tunnel construction would cost $60 billion to $100 billion

“Our message is clear and unequivocal,” said Gomberg. “DWR and the SWC presented no credible evidence that a $60-$100 billion cost estimate is unreasonable—which it certainly is, given the financing costs, delays, and other obstacles that all major infrastructure projects face.”

Gomberg noted that costs for public works projects of similar scope—such as the high-speed rail—typically balloon exponentially from original estimates.

“If it’s approved, the DCP’s costs would follow a similar trajectory, raising rates and making water even less affordable for Californians who are already struggling to pay for basic necessities,” he revealed.

Gomberg also noted that claims from SWC agencies regarding their need for additional water from the DCP are meritless.

“A prime example is the Zone 7 Water Agency, which includes Dublin, San Ramon, and other East Bay suburbs,” Gomberg said. “Its water supply planners estimated that the agency’s municipal and industrial demand will hit 47,000 acre-feet by 2045, even as their own fiscal analysis showed their current M&I demand was 35,000 acre-feet with a downward trend. They presented no evidence that they would have a 34% increase in demand in 20 years.”

Rather than blowing $100 billion on a project that "lacks reliability and has huge environmental downsides," Gomberg observed, the agencies would be far better off pursuing cheaper, more sustainable and more effective strategies.

“We know the solutions, which have already been applied with great success by some agencies,” Gomberg concluded. “They include reducing the massive volumes of water used by corporate agriculture; enhanced urban conservation, recycling, and stormwater capture; and groundwater recharge. These solutions require substantial investment, and people cannot afford to pay for ‘all of the above.’ We need an approach informed by affordability and sustainability, not another greedy water grab dressed up as a climate strategy.”

The tunnel is opposed by a broad coalition of Tribes, fishing groups, Delta counties and water agencies, family farmers, environmental organizations and Southern California ratepayers because it would divert more water out of the Delta. They say the tunnel's construction would devastate Delta communities and farms, as well as hasten the extinction of spring and winter-run Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and other fish species.

The testimony of DWR engineer Amardeep Singh last year revealed that the DCP will increase water deliveries from the Delta by 22% at a time when the estuary is in its biggest-ever ecological crisis. Moreover, during drought periods when fish are already strained by low flows and high temperatures, the Delta Tunnel would increase deliveries by 24%: