KCRA – Sacramento
For the second time in two years, Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing California lawmakers to quickly pass a proposal that would fast-track the state’s controversial Delta Conveyance Project. The 45-mile tunnel that would divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and send it to drier Southern California farms and cities is expected to now cost $20 billion. Supporters have said the project would modernize the state’s water systems in response to climate change, while critics have said it would have serious consequences on the environment, such as land, fish, water and air. The cost of the tunnel would not fall on taxpayers, but water rate payers in Southern California. In an effort to save time and money while preparing the state’s water system for more intense impacts of climate change, the governor’s proposal attempts to limit environmental litigation against the project and speed up the permitting process for construction. Newsom is attempting to do this through the state’s budget process, which keeps the proposal out of the typical lawmaking process and involves significantly less public review. Proposed laws passed in the budget go into effect immediately. However, lawmakers rejected a similar push by the governor in 2023, when he tried to include the tunnel in a set of infrastructure and environmental-related projects he wanted to fast-track that summer through the budget. A group of Delta-area Democrats rehashed this in a news conference on Tuesday. “Fast-tracking the Delta Conveyance Project is a direct attack on our region’s environmental integrity, economic stability and public trust,” said Assemblywoman Lori Wilson, D-Suisun City, who noted the group is prepared to put up another fight over the proposal. | RELATED | Rep. Harder taking steps to prevent Delta Conveyance Project”This project will set a precedent for bypassing well-established environmental laws that have cleaned up California and set a standard for the rest of the nation,” said State Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton. So, what makes this year different for Governor Newsom? What renewed the governor’s push? “It would be irresponsible for us to know what we know and not act with urgency,” said Gov. Newsom’s top environmental official, California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, pointing to climate change. “We’re working to improve the reliability of that part of the infrastructure so we can continue to provide water,” he said. But is there anything else pushing the governor to try again and agitate lawmakers in his own party in the process, again? Could President Donald Trump’s constant criticism of California’s water system earlier this year have anything to do with it? To be clear, President Trump has not taken a stance on the specific project in recent years. We reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back as of Tuesday night. Crowfoot rebuffed the suggestion that the federal government has anything to do with the governor’s latest push. “It will be important to convey water from some parts of the state where it rains and snow to other parts of the state and that’s what this project is about,” Crowfoot said. “We are responsible to Californians, and we have to invest in the future.” Could the project be a bargaining chip for the governor as he and lawmakers negotiate the state’s budget for the upcoming year? “It could be,” Wilson said. “If this is the governor’s play, the Delta community is going to say this is the chip you can’t use, we’re taking it off the table.”But Crowfoot said the governor is very focused on getting this over the finish line. “The path of least resistance politically would be to ignore it, let it continue to navigate through a byzantine and complicated process,” he said. “But the governor has been very clear and was very clear two years ago, doubling down on the proposal. This time around, it’s more comprehensive. It addresses all of the areas and all of the red tape that will slow this project down.” See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
For the second time in two years, Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing California lawmakers to quickly pass a proposal that would fast-track the state’s controversial Delta Conveyance Project. …
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