Tribal, Environmental and Delta Advocates Challenge Delta Tunnel Certification of Consistency
On November 20, a coalition of Tribes and environmental advocates said they filed a formal appeal challenging the California Department of Water Resources
An avalanche of appeals by Tribes, environmental justice organizations, conservation groups, the Delta Protection Commission, Delta Counties, the City of Stockton and water agencies could pause the Delta Tunnel process from moving forward if the Delta Stewardship Council upholds the appeals.
The Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) would create a 45-mile tunnel starting on the Sacramento River at the town of Hood and ending at the Bethany Reservoir west of Tracy, near the community of Mountain House in the South Delta. Opponents say the project would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River winter-run and spring-run Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt, green sturgeon, white sturgeon and other fish species, as well as devastate Delta communities and Tribal cultural resources.
On November 20, a coalition of Tribes and environmental advocates said they filed a formal appeal challenging the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) Certification of Consistency for the proposed Delta Conveyance Project. They argue that the project “violates state law and poses an imminent threat to Delta communities, its ecosystem and cultural heritage,” according to a statement from the coalition.
The coalition, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, San Francisco Baykeeper, Center for Biological Diversity, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Little Manila Rising, Friends of the River, California Indian Environmental Alliance, Sierra Club California and Restore the Delta, are urging the DeltaStewardship Council to overturn the certification citing inconsistencies with the Delta Reform Act and Delta Plan. The group’s key concerns in the appeal include that the project would:
- “Irreparably harm Tribal Cultural Resources including cultural sites, burial grounds and traditional use areas – highlighting the lack of any meaningful Tribal consultation
- “Intensify environmental harm by increasing diversions from the Delta, reducing protective water flows for threatened fish species and increasing harmful algal blooms
- “Worsen environmental injustices, placing disproportionate burdens on Delta residents including low-income, Tribal and Latino communities
- “Increase water reliance on the Delta, directly contradicting Delta Plan requirements, and weakening water flow protections.”
“DWR takes every chance it gets to legitimize its ill-advised Delta Tunnel, so it should come as no surprise that it has flouted important environmental reviews by certifying its own project as compliant with the Delta Plan despite the contrary reality,” said Christie Ralston, Associate Attorney for San Francisco Baykeeper. “The Tunnel's true impacts contradict DWR's consistency determination. Instead of spending tens of billions of ratepayer and taxpayer dollars on a concrete pipe that will destroy ecosystems, fisheries, Delta economies, and communities, Californians need effective and restorative solutions that prioritize local sources of water, strengthening levees, and improving existing State Water Project infrastructure.”
“Environmental and tribal partners spent years collaborating with the DeltaStewardship 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 by the Council.”
The coalition is calling on the Delta Stewardship Council to “reject DWR’s determination and require the state to follow the law and to uphold their commitment to protecting the already fragile Delta ecosystem, tribal rights and deltacommunities.”
The Delta Protection Commission, Delta Counties, water agencies, the City of Stockton, water agencies and other organizations are also appealing the certification.
The Delta Protection Commission voted 9-0 on November 17 to appeal the Department of Water Resources’s certification that the Delta Conveyance Project is “consistent” with the Delta Plan.
The Commission’s appeal contends that the Project would do lasting harm to the Delta, irrevocably altering “the rural character of the Delta, its economic pillars (agriculture and recreation), and its cultural heritage.”
It also contends that other options that don’t harm the Delta have not been adequately considered.
“The project would use thousands of acres of agricultural land during construction and leave another 1,000 permanently changed, often with industrial-looking facilities, at the four major impact areas: Hood, Twin Cities Road near I-5, Lower Roberts Island, and near the Bethany Reservoir State Recreation Area. Other permanent facilities would be built in the Delta on the tunnel route,” the Commission said in a statement.
The Delta Reform Act of 2009 establishes coequal goals for the Delta of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. It also states that the coequal goals “shallbe achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place.”
Commissioner Patrick Hume, a Sacramento County Supervisor, said at a preliminary Commission discussion of the matter on Nov. 3: “This body is the last bastion of support for the Delta as a place. This is really the voice for the flora, the fauna, the farmers, the Flyway, the fisheries, and the economy that the Delta represents.”
The Commission’s vote to appeal was 9-0, with one abstention.
The Commission is made predominantly of elected representatives in the Delta, with 11 of its 15 members coming from county boards of supervisors, city councils, and local reclamation districts, which are responsible for flood control in the Delta’s low-lying farmland and small communities.
The remaining four members represent state agencies, and they have typically abstained on votes regarding the Delta Conveyance Project.
“Commission Chair Diane Burgis, a Contra Costa County Supervisor, did not attend the meeting and has recused herself from past discussions and votes regarding the Project. Burgis serves on the Delta Stewardship Council, which will hear the Commission’s appeal and any other appeals filed by today’s deadline,” the Commission wrote.
If the Council upholds any of the appeals, the Project could be remanded to DWR to address Delta Plan inconsistencies, the Commission noted.
The Commission’s appeal, including maps showing impact areas, can be seen here (PDF).
Below is the list of parties that have appealed the California Department of Water Resources Certification of Consistency (C20257) for the Delta Conveyance Project, submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council on October 17, 2025:
- C20257-A1 – Delta Protection Commission
- C20257-A2 – Courtland Pear Fair
- C20257-A3 – County of Sacramento and Sacramento County Water Agency
- C20257-A4 – Steamboat Resort
- C20257-A5 – San Francisco Baykeeper, Winnemem Wintu, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Restore the Delta, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the River, California Indian Environmental Alliance, Sierra Club California, and Little Manila Rising
- C20257-A6 – Sacramento Area Sewer District
- C20257-A7 – City of Stockton
- C20257-A8 – South Delta Water Agency
- C20257-A9 – San Joaquin County, Solano County, Yolo County, Central Delta Water Agency, and Local Agencies of the North Delta
- C20257-A10 – DCC Engineering Co., Inc.
The effective date for the appeals is November 17, 2025 (23 Cal. Code Regs. § 5022, subsection (d)(2)).
