Environmental Advocates Push for Fair and Inclusive Process, Not Fast-Tracking of the Delta Tunnel

Stockton, CA – Environmental advocates are calling on the Delta Stewardship Council (Council) to honor its commitments to environmental justice, fairness and transparency for public review of the Certification of Consistency for the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), according to a press release from Restore the Delta.

In a letter sent on November 6, San Francisco Baykeeper and Restore the Delta urged the Council to extend deadlines to ensure proper public participation, criticizing the current timeline and process for “being rushed and shutting out Tribes and Delta residents.”

The Department of Water Resources had submitted its Certification of Consistency to the Council on October 17 with roughly 85 files and links, but continued to upload thousands of additional documents in the following weeks, inflating the number of documents to over 21,000 files, the groups reported.

The groups warn that the Council’s decision to start the standard 30-day appeal process on November 17, before all documents and materials were uploaded by DWR, undermines the rights of those that would be most impacted by the DCP.

"The DCP would be the largest water infrastructure project in decades, and its consequences would be disastrous for the Bay-Delta ecosystem and the communities that depend on clean water and thriving fisheries,” said Eric Buescher, Managing Attorney for the San Francisco Bay Keeper. “Rushing to rubber stamp approval under the Delta Reform Act is inconsistent with the law and unnecessary."

In the letter, the groups further highlight how the current timeline and process violate California environmental justice and tribal consultation laws and the lack of any outreach to organizations and Tribes in the Delta.

“Restore the Delta and other environmental and tribal partners spent years collaborating with the Delta Stewardship Council on a report for how they would engage with environmental justice communities and tribes,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta. “It seems that they have walked away from the Council’s commitment to following their own internal processes as delineated in this report. Environmental justice and tribal collaboration seems to be for show and not for meaningful consideration for the tunnel by the Council.”

Baykeeper and Restore the Delta are urging the Council to recognize October 29 or 31, 2025, when final records were uploaded, as the true submission date for DWR’s Certification of Consistency; to extend public review to at least 90 days; and to hold two hearings at least 60 days after appeal submissions to allow for thorough and equitable review.

“If the Stewardship Council is serious about protecting the Delta as a place and restoring its ecosystem, it needs to patiently and carefully listen to impacted communities and organizations, not bend to the political will of DWR and the Governor," said Buescher.

The Governor’s push to build the Delta Tunnel takes place as the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is in its biggest-ever ecological crisis. Commercial salmon fishing in California ocean waters has been closed for an unprecedented three years, due to the collapse of Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations. 

Meanwhile, no Delta smelt, once the most abundant fish in the entire Delta, have been found in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Fall Midwater Trawl survey for 7 years in a row. Other Delta fish species, including longfin smelt, green sturgeon, Sacramento splittail, striped bass and threadfin shad continue to collapse.

Independent scientists and fish advocates say the Delta Tunnel, if built, would hasten the extinction of Central Valley steelhead, Sacramento River winter and spring-run Chinook salmon, green sturgeon, white sturgeon, Delta smelt and other fish species, along with having a devastating impact on Tribal and Delta communities.