Delta Tunnel Update: Advocates confront Governor's Office over push for tunnel CEQA exemptions

Sacramento, CA – The battle to stop the salmon-killing Delta Tunnel has amped up in recent weeks, with Governor Gavin Newsom pushing bills in the Legislature that would fast-track the Delta Tunnel and carve out exemptions from the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) at the behest of Big Ag oligarchs and Southern California water brokers.

On August 26, dozens of advocates from Tribes, Delta communities, environmental justice groups, fishing groups, and conservation organizations held more than 100 meetings at the State Capitol to “express collective opposition to the Delta Conveyance Project and Water Quality Plan CEQA Exemption trailer bills,” according to a statement from Restore the Delta:

“Participants came from every corner of the state, spanning an age range of over 50 years, united in their call to protect the San Francisco Bay-DeltaEstuary and California rivers. Advocates urged lawmakers to reject attempts to advance the tunnel and excessive water exports and instead support viable, community-based solutions such as local water projects in Southern California.

“Throughout the day, advocates learned that the State Water Contractors are advancing a strategy to secure CEQA exemptions for both the Bay-Delta Plan and the Delta Tunnel, with sunset clauses ending only when the projects are completed to their satisfaction. In effect, this strategy—backed by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Governor’s Office—would isolate Tribes and Delta residents from due process rights guaranteed under current law.”

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, pointed out:

“The Delta is a majority disadvantaged region, with over 70% of residents in the tunnel’s footprint being members of communities of color. Delta Tribes continue to rely on the Delta for food, cultural, and spiritual practices. More than 23,000 small boat fishermen are tied to the health of the estuary. Three thousand Delta agricultural water users have farmed the region for six generations. Together, we support a $7 billion annual economy – and there is no price tag for our Tribal partners for whom the Delta is ancestral territory. The Governor’s answer is a one-time $200 million ‘community benefit’ payment to Delta communities representing 4 million people.” 

“This blatant attempt to rewrite the law in order to unceasingly divert Northern California waters for unchecked growth in Southern California is unjust, anti-Californian, and immoral. While the Governor tweets about President Trump’s water policies, he is advancing an equally problematic agenda by helping the State Water Contractors bully one region of the state to gain control over California’s waters – a public trust resource. We call on Governor Newsom to uphold due process, defend public trust resources, and govern on behalf of all Californians – not just those who hold political power.” 

As a recent press conference at the State Capitol, in advance of beginning of the Legislature’s session after summer break, Gary Mulcahy, Governor Liaison with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, quipped, “Apparently we need a No Kings act passed in California in order to put the Governor in his place.”

“Time after time, organization after organization, tribe after tribe, farmer after farmer, disadvantaged community after disadvantaged community, elected official after elected official, and on and on, have said that the Delta Conveyance Project and the trailer bills that would change California law to help build it, are not wanted, not needed, and devastatingly destructive. Yet, King Newsom continues to push ahead with his personal agenda,” Mulcahy said.

Are you fed up with the Governor’s campaign to build the Delta Tunnel? If you are, you can make your voice heard by joining Restore the Delta and an array of groups at the “Rally for the Delta” on September 5:

• When: Friday, September 5, 2025, from 10:30 AM to 12 PM
• Where: Sacramento State Capitol, West Steps, 1315 10th Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
• RSVP: https://bit.ly/477COJx
• What to Bring: We recommend wearing a hat, sunscreen, cool clothing, and a reusable water bottle to stay hydrated.
• If you’d like, you can also make a sign to proudly show your opposition to the Delta Tunnel.   

Background: Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta In Worst-Ever Crisis

The Governor’s campaign to fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project, along with the Big Ag-pushed voluntary agreements, would seal the doom of Sacramento winter, spring and fall-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, green sturgeon, white sturgeon, Sacramento splittail and longfin smelt, according to fish advocates and independent scientists.

The Delta smelt, an “indicator species” that demonstrates the health of the Bay-Delta Ecosystem, is already functionally extinct in the wild with the current massive exports of Delta water to Big Ag oligarchs in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water brokers.

No Delta smelt have been found in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fall Midwater Trawl Survey for 7 years. It is beyond alarming that zero Delta smelt were caught in the survey despite the release of tens of thousands of hatchery-raised Delta smelt into the Delta over the past few years by the state and federal governments,  

“The 2024 abundance index was 0 and continues the trend of no catch in the FMWT since 2017,” reported  Taylor Rohlin, CDFW Environmental Scientist Bay Delta Region in a Jan. 2 memo to Erin Chappell, Regional Manager Bay Delta Region: nrm.dfg.ca.gov/…

Central Valley river salmon populations are also in deep trouble. Commercial salmon fishing off the coast of California has been closed for three years, due to the collapse of the Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations. Recreational ocean salmon fishing was closed in 2023 and 2024 — and only a very limited recreational season is allowed this year. 

Yet fishing and environmental groups say that the project would make things even worse for the Bay-Delta ecosystem by increasing Delta exports when what is urgently needed for imperiled fish and wildlife to recover is less Delta water exports.

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has claimed that the tunnel will not increase deliveries from the Delta. But the testimony of DWR engineer Amardeep Singh before the State Water Resources Control Board reveals that the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) will increase water deliveries from the Delta for the State Water Project (SWP) by 22%.

“DCP operation will not decrease water supply for Central Valley Project (CVP) contractors and will increase water supply for SWP Table A contractors by 22 percent,” he states on page 2 of his testimony.

Then on page 20 of his testimony, Singh again clearly states, “Finally, DCP operation will not decrease water supply for CVP contractors and will increase water supply for SWP Table A contractors by 22 percent.”

Moreover, during drought periods when fish are already strained by low flows and high temperatures, the DCP would increase deliveries by 24%: static1.squarespace.com/… 

That’s why fishing groups, Tribes, environmental justice organizations and conservation groups are now calling on Governor Newsom and the Legislature to reject the Delta Conveyance Project, along with the voluntary agreements.

Then there is the enormous amount of money that the tunnel would cost Californians. The  Department of Water Resources claims that the Delta Tunnel would cost $20.1 billion. But an independent analysis by the economic research firm ECOnorthwest for the California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) reveals that the costs would probably range from about $60 billion to $100 billion.

“Unfortunately, the Newsom administration is brushing over and leaving out the real costs of the tunnel, both to the ratepayers and taxpayers and the environment,” Carolee Krieger, executive director of the California Water Impact Network, told Ian James of the LA Times: www.latimes.com/…  

Follow The Big Ag Money

The reason for Newsom’s fanatical campaign to fast-track the Delta Tunnel before the end of his second term as Governor becomes crystal clear when you realize that Beverly Hills billionaires Linda and Stewart Resnick, owners of the Wonderful Company and the largest orchard fruit growers in the world, are among the largest contributors to Governor Newsom and hosted his 2022 anti-recall campaign in a fundraising letter.

The Resnicks have donated a total of $431,600 to Governor Gavin Newsom since 2018, including $250,000 to Stop The Republican Recall Of Governor Newsom and $64,800 to Newsom For California Governor 2022. Not only did the Resnicks donate $250,000 to Stop the Republican Recall in 2022, they hosted a fundraising letter to persuade wealthy potential donors to contribute to the effort.

Newsom received a total of $755,198 in donations from agribusiness in the 2018 election cycle, based on the data from www.followthemoney.org. That figure includes a combined $116,800 from Stewart and Lynda Resnick and $58,400 from E.J. Gallo, combined with $579,998 in the agriculture donations category.

But the Resnicks are also huge contributors to the University of California system and other universities in the state. In 2019 they made a donation of $750 million to Caltech and in 2022 made a $50 million donation to UC Davis, in addition to contributing millions to UCLA, CSU Fresno and other universities over the years.  

The Resnicks have pushed for increased water exports from the Delta for agribusiness and the construction of the Delta Tunnel for many years.

The Resnicks have donated many millions of dollars to both the Democratic and Republican parties and to candidates for both parties over the years. They were instrumental in the creation of the Monterey Amendment, a 1994 pact between Department of Water Resources and State Water Project contractors, that allowed them to obtain their 57 percent stake in the Kern Water Bank: https://www.watereducation.org/aquapedia/monterey-amendment