California Delta Leaders Blast Newsom's Push to Fast-Track $20 Billion Water Tunnel | KQED

The planned Delta Conveyance Project, aimed at accelerating water transfer from Northern to Southern California via a tunnel, has met significant backlash. After Governor Gavin Newsom announced a push to simplify permitting for the project, lawmakers, tribal leaders, and environmental advocates have united to reject it, labeling it a flawed process. They emphasize the potential harm to local ecosystems and indigenous communities, particularly highlighting the concerns voiced by representatives of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians regarding ancestral lands and environmental degradation.

Malissa Tayaba, vice chairperson of the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, whose ancestral lands include the delta, said her tribe would be "irreparably harmed" by the project. "We will not only lose access to our homelands that we have cared for and stewarded for time immemorial, but we will also lose our delta estuary, already in crisis," she said. "More importantly, the Delta Conveyance Project would destroy and desecrate the resting place of our ancestors."

Less than a week after Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed fast-tracking a controversial tunnel project to send more Northern California water south, a group of lawmakers, tribal leaders and environmentalists is calling on the Legislature to reject the idea, calling it 'a broken process that silences local voices.'

As part of his revised budget proposal last week, Newsom laid out in an announcement and trailer bill how he wants the Legislature to accelerate the 45-mile-long tunnel through the delta by taking action to simplify permitting and land acquisition, confirm that the Department of Water Resources has the authority to issue bonds to cover the project's cost, prevent unnecessary litigation delays and support construction.

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