Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration revealed that the cost of their tunnel project, which is designed to transport water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, has now ballooned to more than $20 billion.
The water tunnel project has already been heavily criticized by locals, environmentalists, and native tribes. However, now that the project has increased in cost, even more people are attacking Newsom’s plan.
The Delta Conveyance Project
This plan to build a water tunnel underneath the delta is called the Delta Conveyance Project. According to Newsom’s administration, this tunnel is needed to help California improve the reliability of its water supplies, especially as the state continues to deal with climate change.
Supporters of this tunnel have also stated that it will help improve the state’s water supplies in case of sea level rises, as well as if potentially harmful earthquakes happen.
A Large Tunnel
The tunnel would be 45 miles long. Thanks to its location, this tunnel would create an additional route for the aqueducts of the State Water Project to draw water from the Sacramento River.
As California continues to work with water declines in its supply, this project would help to modernize its current infrastructure, while also possibly preventing further water declines.
A Price Increase
In 2020, California produced an estimate of how much this water tunnel would cost. Four years ago, the state stated it would be a $16 billion project.
However, now Newsom’s administration has raised this price tag to $20.1 billion. According to UC Berkeley emeritus professor David Sunding, who helped to analyze this project’s cost for California, this increase in price is simply because of inflation.
Benefits Outweigh the Cost
While this increase in price has shocked many — especially as Newsom has just announced budget cut plans — the California Department of Water Resources has claimed that the tunnel’s benefits far outweigh the total cost of the project.
“The project easily passes a benefit-cost test,” Sunding explained. “The benefits clearly justify the costs.”
Backlash Persists
Though Newsom’s administration and many California water agencies have come out to fully support this tunnel project, there are many critics of the idea.
Environmentalists, fishers, locals, and native tribes have all come out against the idea of the building of this tunnel, as they believe it will ruin the delta’s already damaged ecosystem.
Destroying the Delta
Many fishers, tribes, and environmentalists have stated that this tunnel will completely destroy the delta. The delta has already gone through many problems, especially as fish in the area continue to die off.
“Instead of foisting the costs of this boondoggle project onto Californians, the state should invest in sustainable water solutions that promise to restore the delta ecosystem, not destroy it,” Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, the executive director of Restore the Delta, stated.
Helping the Delta
Detractors have argued that California shouldn’t destroy the delta by building this tunnel. Instead, they should invest in practices that could help the delta, such as restoring some of the natural floodplains. This restoration could help reduce potential flood risks.
These advocates also have stated that shoring up levees in the delta could be beneficial. Finally, they’ve stated that changing water management in the delta is essential.
The Fight for Water Conservation
Critics of the tunnel believe that more energy could be put into water conservation in the state to help with California’s water supply issues.
However, supporters of the water tunnel have claimed that there are limits to the additional water conservation practices the state could do. Detractors have fought against these allegations that more can’t be done to conserve water around California.
Does California Have No Choice?
Supporters of this project have claimed that they don’t have a choice. If they want the state to ensure their water supplies no longer decline, this tunnel has to be built.
Officials have also stated that climate change and major earthquakes could harm their existing infrastructure — and halt water deliveries for weeks or months. Therefore, they have claimed they need this tunnel to keep this from happening.
Lawsuits Have Been Filed
In an attempt to fully stop this water tunnel project from occurring, various agencies and groups — including Indigenous tribes and environmental groups — have filed lawsuits to try to block the project.
By taking this into a courtroom, critics are hoping to at the very least halt this construction of the tunnel, though their main goal is to block it completely.
The Beginning of Construction
California is looking to start constructing this water tunnel towards the end of 2029. According to the state, it will take about 15 years for the entire project to be completed.
Therefore, water won’t begin delivering through the constructed tunnel until at least 2045.
