Broad Coalition Defeats Governor's Trailer Bills to Fast-Track Delta Tunnel

A broad coalition of Tribes, environmental justice groups, family farmers, fishing groups, conservationists, Delta communities and elected officials celebrated victory today in their  campaign to stop Governor Gavin Newsom's trailer bills to fast-track the Delta Tunnel, a project that would destroy the imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin River ecosystem and Delta communities.

At midnight, Gov. Newsom’s Delta Tunnel trailer bills died after no legislator stepped up to carry them forward because of the massive opposition to the bills.

In a statement, Delta Caucus Co-Chairs Senator Jerry McNerney (D-Pleasanton) and Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson (D-Suisun City) on Wednesday applauded the defeat of what they called “the governor’s controversial proposal to fast-track the costly and destructive Delta Tunnel Project.”

The proposal — which sought to greatly accelerate the construction of a 45-mile-long underground tunnel that could cost upwards of $100 billion through the fragile Delta region - is not advancing this year after the Legislature rejected the governor’s plan this week.

“Defeating the tunnel fast-tracking proposal is a major victory for California and the Delta, and for the communities, farms, and historic resources surrounding the largest estuary on the West Coast. The tunnel project not only would devastate much of the Delta region, but is also unaffordable and unnecessary,” said Sen. McNerney, whose district includes the heart of the Delta region.

“We want to thank Senate and Assembly leadership for protecting the fragile Delta region and the thousands of Californians who called on the Legislature to reject the fast-tracking plan. Assemblywoman Wilson and I stand ready to work with the Legislature and governor on alternatives that will cost far less and will safeguard California’s main water supply system without inflicting major harm to it, such as fortifying Delta levees and increasing water recycling, water efficiency, and groundwater storage,” added McNerney.

“I am relieved to see that the proposed Delta Tunnel trailer bills did not move forward,” Assemblywoman Wilson said. “Once a short-sighted policy, always a short-sighted policy and no amount of money, including the attempted $200 million payoff to Delta communities, can make up for the lasting harm this project would cause. This conversation has gone on for decades, and make no mistake: alongside Senator McNerney and our Delta Caucus partners, we will continue to stand strong and fight for the Delta and the communities who call it home.”

“Last month, the governor renewed his call for the Legislature to approve his fast-tracking plan for the Delta Tunnel Project, even though the plan was not included in this year’s state budget. The governor’s proposal released in May would have greatly weakened environmental and judicial review of water plans for Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, while giving the state a blank check to float bonds to pay for the water tunnel,” Wilson concluded.

Restore the Delta also applauded the defeat of the environmentally destructive trailer bills.

“Working in close collaboration with the Delta Caucus, co-chaired by Senator Jerry McNerney and Assemblymember Lori Wilson, and with the leadership of Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, advocates ensured that proposals advanced by Governor Newsom, the State Water Resources Control Board, the California Natural Resources Agency, and the State Water Contractors did not move forward in this legislative session,” according to a statement from Restore the Delta.

“The defeated trailer bills would have stripped Tribes and Delta communities of their ability to participate in CEQA review of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan and would have advanced construction and bonding for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project, including unlimited bonding authority for the Department of Water Resources,” the group stated.

“Delta communities and allies across California stood up to defend clean water, fisheries, local economies, and environmental justice – and we won,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “This victory shows that the people of the Delta will not be silenced, and that California’s laws protecting public participation, water quality, and the environment cannot simply be swept aside.”

Barrigan-Parrilla noted that the opposition was “broad and vocal.” Last week, more than 50 organizations from across the state formally opposed the trailer bills, while thousands of Californians sent emails and phone calls to legislators urging them to reject the package.

“This is a victory for transparency, for Tribal inclusion, for Delta farming communities, and for every Californian who depends on healthy rivers and fisheries,” Barrigan-Parrilla added. “We are grateful to legislative leaders who listened and stood with us to uphold California’s water laws. We are grateful to our organizational partners and supporters from throughout California.”

Scott Artis, Executive Director of the Golden State Salmon Association, also weighed in on the defeat of the controversial trailer bills:

“Governor Newsom marked the 175th anniversary of California’s statehood by praising our shared history and future in his State of the State letter. Yet, he was attempting to write salmon, fishing families, and entire coastal communities out of California’s future with his Delta Tunnel and CEQA trailer bills.

“California won’t be the Golden State if it destroys its rivers, silences Tribes, or sacrifices working families for the benefit of a handful of wealthy water contractors. These bills would have done exactly that. They would gut environmental protections, eliminate due process, and lock in a water grab that could finish off already imperiled salmon runs.  Make no mistake, both the Delta tunnel and the cynical ‘voluntary agreements’ are an attempt at a massive water grab at the expense of salmon and salmon fishing jobs.

“Our statehood anniversary should be an opportunity to celebrate the people and natural resources that built California. Instead, Governor Newsom is joining the Trump Administration in pushing salmon-killing proposals that threaten to erase an iconic species, cripple an entire fishing industry, and abandon river and coastal communities that depend on salmon.

“Golden State Salmon Association and our partners thank the legislature, and particularly Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire and Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas, for rejecting these reckless and cynical trailer bills. Californians deserve solutions that restore rivers, protect jobs, and honor our heritage—not schemes that will be remembered as the moment California turned its back on its people and its salmon.”  

Here is what Sierra Club Water Associate Organizer, Layne Fajeau, had to say about the death of the trailer bills:

“We are incredibly proud of the California legislators who stood against the Newsom administration’s attempts to subvert crucial environmental review processes on behalf of powerful water wholesalers and agencies. Senators McNerney, Allen, Blakespear, Assemblywoman Wilson, Senate Pro Tem McGuire, Speaker Rivas, and the entire Delta Legislative Caucus deserve immense praise for standing up for communities and species that depend upon a healthy Delta ecosystem.”

In a press conference at the State Capitol on Friday, Sept. 5, Malissa Tayaba, the Vice-Chair of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, emphasized the destructive impact the trailer bills would have on California tribes if they had passed.

“The CEQA trailer bill would eliminate the opportunity for analysis and review of tribal cultural impacts in water quality control plans  -- it is an erasure of the commitments the Governor and the legislature have made to repair relationships with California tribes. CEQA is a critical element to inform policy choices regarding Bay-Delta management. Without CEQA analysis, much of the Delta Reform Act becomes meaningless,” Tayaba said.

“Our people and our region are not a sacrifice zone. We will continue to speak out to protect and maintain our culture,” Tayaba concluded.

If built, the Delta Tunnel would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River spring and winter-run Chinook salmon, Delta and longfin smelt, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon and other fish species, according to independent scientists and fish advocates.

The Bay-Delta is now in its worst-ever ecological crisis, due to massive water exports to Big Ag oligarchs and Southern California water brokers, pollution and other factors. 

The Delta smelt population has become functionally extinct in the wild. No Delta smelt have been found in the California Fish and Wildlife's Fall Midwater Trawl Survey in the Delta for the past seven years. Commercial fishing for salmon in California ocean waters has been closed for three years, due to the collapse of Sacramento River and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations.

The tunnel would take even more water out of the Sacramento River before it flows through the Delta, making the ecological crisis worse than it already is.