Newsom wants to fast-track $20B Delta Tunnel, over objections from lawmakers

The debate over fast-tracking Delta Tunnel Project

Several California lawmakers don't want to fast-track the Delta Tunnel Project supported by Gov. Newsom.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom said he wants to speed up the building of the Delta Tunnel Project over the objections of many California lawmakers, who say the construction would create a host of problems.

The project includes a 45-mile tunnel, to move water from Northern California to Southern California.

Newsom on Wednesday asked state lawmakers to pass a trailer bill to fast-track the project during his May budget address. 

Specifically, Newsom wants the Legislature to adopt his plan to speed up the $20 billion tunnel through the delta by passing bills to simplify permitting, confirm that the Department of Water Resources has the authority to issue bonds to cover the project’s cost, prevent unnecessary lawsuit delays and support construction.

Newsom said the tunnel will be important to address climate change that could result in less water, and the current system is not equipped to handle wild storms and extended periods of dry weather. 

But critics say the bill would weaken environmental protections – including destroying 4,000 of farmland in the delta, tramples Native American tribal sovereignty, and guts public oversight.

In a letter to Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, Senate President Pro-Tempore Mike McGuire, Assembly Budget Chair Jesse Gabriel, and Senate Budget Chair Scott Wiener noted the  Delta Tunnel Project "is opposed by every city and county affected by it."

"The bipartisan Delta Caucus is unanimous in strong opposition to the governor’s proposal to fast-track the Delta Tunnel, a $20 billion unaffordable project to be paid by ratepayers who are already struggling with the high cost of living in California," the Delta Caucus wrote in a news release. "This project will destroy prime farmland, wreak havoc on the Delta region for a generation, and fail to solve the state’s water issues."

Delta Caucus co-chairs, Senator Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, D-Suisun City, are asking their colleagues in the Legislature to reject Newsom's proposal. 

"In short, California should develop a sustainable water system instead of the expensive and damaging tunnel that will not add a drop of new water to the system," McNerey said in a statement. "The Legislature and governor should pursue alternatives that would cost far less and would safeguard California’s main water supply system without inflicting major harm to it, such as fortifying Delta levees and increasing water recycling and groundwater storage."

State regulators have been trying to build some version of a water tunnel system for decades.