C-WIN: DWR’s Nose is Growing

Agency Claim the DCP Is “Needed” to Offset Climate Risk Is Disinformation

The California Department of Water Resources continues to grasp for straws in its defense of its economically and environmentally ruinous Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). In its latest spurious claim, the agency insists the DCP – also known as the Delta Tunnel – is essential for ensuring Southern California’s water security in our changing climate.

“This is skewed reasoning on par with Trump’s tariff justification,” said Max Gomberg, a California Water Impact Network board member and senior policy advisor.

“In written and verbal statements, the Governor and top water officials have claimed that the DCP is needed to maintain current levels of Delta water exports in this era of accelerating climate change,” Gomberg said, “but they can’t provide an honest answer about why current levels of exports are necessary, nor can they say why an outrageously expensive tunnel transporting water from an imperiled ecosystem is adaptive to climate change.”

Gomberg said the Newsom administration must also acknowledge the simple fact that the demand for water greatly exceeds the available supply, and adapting to climate change requires reducing unreasonable demand and diversifying supply.

“We need to reduce Delta deliveries to growers producing luxury export crops like almonds and pistachios, and we need to drastically reduce the amount of Colorado River water being used to grow alfalfa in the desert,” Gomberg said. “There is enough water for urban Southern California, including for water-efficient development, if we stop providing excessive subsidized water to corporate agriculture.”

Southern California water agencies are doing their part by investing in conservation and local supplies,” said Gomberg, “But their ratepayers cannot afford those projects and a tunnel costing upward of $40 billion.”

Gomberg noted DWR’s claim the Delta Tunnel is needed to compensate for supply losses due to climate change is particularly disingenuous given that the agency’s required California Environmental Quality Act analysis shows that every region served by the SWP will have adequate supplies in the future – except for inland Southern California.

“California’s semi-arid and desert regions, in other words,” said Gomberg. “Given climate, change, expanding suburban sprawl in these areas doesn’t make sense. The heat is extreme, and local water sources are limited. So why would we build a gigantic $40 billion tunnel for this region alone? The main beneficiaries are developers with powerful connections in Sacramento and agricultural barons in Kern County. If the state were truly committed to equitable and affordable climate adaptation, we would be doing things very differently. Instead, our leadership continues to pursue 20th century mega-project boondoggles that only benefit mega-donors.”

CONTACT

Max Gomberg
(415) 310-7013
maxgombergca@gmail.com

Christina Speed
C-WIN Communications Director
info.cwin@gmail.com