The Gavin Newsom Administration formally began the planning process for a controversial single tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta when the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released its Delta Conveyance Notice of Preparation on January 15, 2020.
The first public scoping meeting on this process will take place on Monday, February 3, 2020 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the California Environmental Protection Agency Building, 1001 I Street, Sacramento. Everybody who cares about the future of the Delta farms and fish and West Coast fisheries should attend. If you can’t attend this meeting, the list of public scoping meetings is listed below.
The Department of Water Resources is holding seven public scoping meetings between February 3 and 20 on the recently released Notice of Preparation (NOP) for its proposal to “modernize water infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta” — build the Delta Tunnel.
Salmon advocates, tribal leaders, Delta community leaders and farmers and environmentalists, who oppose the tunnel’s construction, are strongly encouraging people concerned about the future of the estuary to show up at the public scoping meetings listed below.
“The NOP signals the start of the scoping period, providing an opportunity for public and agency comment on the scope and content of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review, including the potential environmental impacts of a proposed single tunnel conveyance project and range of alternatives that will be analyzed in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Informational materials, including a new overview fact sheet, can be found here,” according to the notice from DWR.
“There is still no announcement on whether there will be Northern California public meetings,” said Regina Chichizola, co-director of Save California Salmon. “Call Marcus Yee at (916) 651-6736 to request meetings.”
“DWR has clarified that the meetings will NOT be open house style,” noted Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “Yes, your comments will be taken in by a court reporter, but there will be a short presentation and comments can be made to the entire community. We received incorrect information on open house meetings from a different government source. It was clarified for us yesterday at the Stakeholders Engagement Meeting with the Design Construction Authority.“
The list of public scoping meeting dates, locations and times can be found below:
In addition to the scoping meetings, comments can be submitted by email to: DeltaConveyanceScoping@water.ca.gov or mail to: Delta Conveyance Scoping Comments, Attn: Renee Rodriguez, Department of Water Resources, P.O. Box 942836, Sacramento, CA 94236.
DWR is currently accepting comments on the scope of the EIR through March 20, 2020.
Meeting Details
SACRAMENTO:
Monday, February 3, 2020
1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
CA EPA Building
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
LOS ANGELES:
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Junipero Serra State Building
320 West Fourth Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
WALNUT GROVE:
Monday, February 10, 2020
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Jean Harvie Community Center
14273 River Road
Walnut Grove, CA 95690
SAN JOSE:
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Santa Clara Valley Water District, Board Room
5750 Almaden Expressway
San Jose, CA 95118
STOCKTON:
Thursday, February 13, 2020
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
San Joaquin Council of Governments, Board Room
555 Weber Avenue
Stockton, CA 95202
CLARKSBURG:
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Clarksburg Middle School Auditorium
52870 Netherlands Road
Clarksburg, CA 95612
BRENTWOOD:
Thursday, February 20, 2020
6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
Brentwood Community Ctr, Conference Room
35 Oak Street
Brentwood, CA 94513
Agenda
*Doors open for check-in 30 minutes prior to the listed meeting start time so presentations can begin promptly.
Welcome/Meeting Format – Janet Barbieri, Facilitator (5 minutes)
DWR is seeking agency and public input on the scope of issues to be addressed in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and input about alternatives that meet the project’s objective
Presentation – Carrie Buckman, Environmental Program Manager, Department of Water Resources (30 minutes)
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Overview
Notice of Preparation (NOP) Details
Scoping Process and Public Involvement
Opportunity to ask clarifying questions related to the scoping process or contents of the NOP
Comment Session (1 hour 25 minutes)
Commenters will have three minutes to provide verbal comment that will be entered into the record
Comments may also be submitted in several ways:
In writing at the meeting
Email: DeltaConveyanceScoping@water.ca.gov
Mail: Department of Water Resources
Attn: Renee Rodriguez
P.O. Box 942836
Sacramento, CA 94236
All comments received during the scoping period will be considered in the development of the Draft EIR
The construction of the tunnel would hasten the extinction of Sacramento winter and spring run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, as well as imperil salmon and steelhead fisheries on the Klamath and Trinity rivers, according to fish advocates.
According to the documents, the state will consider a tunnel that would divert 6,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) of water from the Sacramento River. Tunnels with the capacity to divert 3,000 cfs and 7,500 cfs will also be considered as alternatives.
Anyone interested in more information concerning the EIR process, or anyone who has information concerning the study or suggestions as to significant issues, should contact Marcus Yee at (916) 651-6736.
Background: Governor Newsom’s Delta Tunnel
In February of 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that his administration was abandoning Governor Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels project and replacing it with a single Delta Tunnel. The project will require approval from both state and federal government agencies.
In a news release, DWR said the purpose in proposing this project “is to develop diversion and conveyance facilities in the Delta necessary to restore and protect the reliability of California’s water deliveries south of the Delta in a cost-effective manner, and consistent with the recently released draft Water Resilience Portfolio.”
“Governor Newsom directed state agencies to pursue a single tunnel solution to modernize our water infrastructure, and when combined with the broader, statewide Portfolio approach, this project would help safeguard a vital source of affordable water for millions of Californians,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “This water supply is critical to the health of local communities, the future of the Delta ecosystem and the success of our state’s economy.”
In his 2019 State of the State, Governor Newsom reiterated his support of a single Delta Tunnel stating “the status quo is not an option. We need to protect our water supply from earthquakes and rising sea levels, preserve delta fisheries, and meet the needs of cities and farms.”
The release of the document follows a week after the administration released the “water portfolio” document that promotes the Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and voluntary agreements as among the “solutions” to California water problems: www.dailykos.com/…
Conservationists, Tribal leaders, recreational anglers, commercial fishermen, environmental justice advocates, boaters, Delta business owners and elected leaders oppose the single tunnel, just as they did Governor Jerry Brown’s twin Delta Tunnels, because scientists say the project would drive already imperiled Delta smelt, long fin smelt, winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon and other species over the edge of extinction.
The project would divert massive quantities of water from the Sacramento River rather than letting the water flow naturally into the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, depriving the estuary of the water that it needs to function as an ecosystem, according to project opponents.
Sierra Club California noted that the document is the first step in the environmental review process under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that the project must clear before it can be considered for permitting by other state agencies.
In a statement, Kathryn Phillips, Director of Sierra Club California, said:
“Here we go again.
“Since last February, when Governor Newsom said during his state-of-the-state address that he would support a single tunnel, we knew this expensive and outdated idea wasn’t off the table.
“However, we anticipated that there might be an effort to employ a list of efficiency, conservation, and other measures to reduce dependence on a tunnel before moving forward on such a massive and environmentally harmful project. In other words, we thought the horse would come before the cart.
“So, now we’ll have to focus a lot of time and energy on battling the tunnel again. And we now know with certainty, that Governor Newsom’s policy on water is not a whole lot different from Governor Brown’s.”
Regina Chichizola, co-director of Save California Salmon, joined Sierra Club California in criticizing the release of the document, saying Newsom is “racing” to build the project.
“Newsom’s water portfolio was announced only a week ago and already he is racing to build the one tunnel project,” said Chichizola. “His stated commitment to building the proposed Sites Reservoir and water diversions, and a new massive tunnel are a slap in the face to the North state and salmon dependent people.”
“These two documents show that Newsom is committed to the same failed water policies that have brought our salmon to the brink of extinction and poisoned our drinking water supplies. It is time to fight back. Mark your calendars. We will be headed south,” she urged salmon advocates.
The dates, times and locations of the scoping meetings for the project are listed at the end of this article.
Likewise, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, said, “We are disappointed that the notice of preparation for the Delta tunnel project was released today,” citing the following problems with the tunnel proposal:
- “A tunnel won’t resolve the drought problems coming with climate change and will not bring water use and available water into reconciliation. (We still promise more water to users than actually exists.)
- A Bay-Delta Water Quality Plan has not been implemented, and the proposed models for the Voluntary Agreements to set flows into and through the Delta reveal less available freshwater for the estuary.
- The Newsom administration has not yet filed its lawsuit against the Trump administration’s corrupted biological opinions, the rules for how water export pumps operate to protect fish.
- Water quality issues around pollution, discharge from the San Joaquin River, and the growth of Harmful Algal Blooms in the Delta have not been resolved.
- The California Aqueduct is sinking as a result of groundwater pumping by big agricultural users according to a report released by the Department of Water Resources on December 31, 2019, and will require costly repairs on top of the costs for the tunnel
- A tunnel does not protect the Delta’s 4 million people from extreme flood threat from climate change.”
“We have consistently maintained that regional sustainability projects found in Governor Newsom’s Water Resilience Portfolio should be prioritized to reduce dependence on Delta water exports before moving forward with the tunnel. Instead, we have crucial Delta needs once again taking a backseat to a project that Californians do not want – especially on the heels of the Trump water plan,” Barrigan-Parrilla concluded.
In contrast, Jeffrey Kightlinger, the General Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, said his organization welcomed “progress on this long-overdue upgrade to the statewide water delivery system, which will better prepare California for climate change and result in more environmentally sensitive management of the Delta.”
It is important to note that Governor Newsom received a total of $755,198 in donations from agribusiness in 2018, based on the latest data from www.followthemoney.org. That figure includes $579,998 in the agriculture donations category, combined with another $116,800 from Beverly Hills agribusiness tycoons Stewart and Lynda Resnick, owners of the Wonderful Company and the largest orchard fruit growers in the world, and $58,400 from E.J. Gallo.
By backing the Delta Tunnel, vetoing SB 1, supporting the voluntary water agreements, hiring grower William Lyons as a special “agriculture liaison” to the Governor’s Office, overseeing the issuing of a new draft EIR that increases water exports for the state and federal projects rather than reducing them and releasing a controversial water portfolio that includes fast tracking the Sites Reservoir, Newsom is apparently bending to the will of his agribusiness donors.
The release of the portfolio takes place at a critical time for salmon, Delta smelt and other San Francisco Bay-Delta fish species. For the second year in a row, the California Department of Fish and wildlife in its annual fall midwater trawl survey in 2019 found zero Delta smelt during the months of September, October, November and December.
Found only in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary, the smelt is an indicator species that shows the health of the ecosystem. Decades of water exports and environmental degradation under the state and federal governments have brought the smelt to the edge of extinction.