Delta Conveyance Advances

 

The Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted yes today to approve funding of environmental planning costs related to the critical Delta Conveyance project. With this vote, 17 of the 18 water agencies statewide that depend on this water supply to serve 27 million people have approved their portion of the planning funds. The remaining agency, the Ventura County Watershed Protection District, will vote on Thursday.

 

“Metropolitan’s approval today is an important step in the state’s efforts to achieve Governor Gavin Newsom’s Water Resilience Portfolio,” said SCWC Executive Director Charley Wilson. “California’s path to resilience hinges on a right-sized Delta Conveyance project that creates a more secure water supply for Californians and this vote today ensures that funding is in place to move the planning process to conclusion.”

 

Upgrading, improving and modernizing the State Water Project’s water delivery system through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is vital. This Delta Conveyance project, formerly known as CalWaterFix, is the backbone of our water supply yet it has a weak link in its old, manmade dirt levee infrastructure that is vulnerable to earthquakes and sea level rise. Crumbling infrastructure in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta threatened by earthquakes and climate change must be fixed, and today’s vote by the MWD Board to fund environmental review for the construction of a modern pipeline through this region is good news for Southern California and the state as a whole.

 

More than 300 respected and impactful organizations throughout the state support modernizing the state’s water delivery system. We thank our coalition of supporters for helping us advance this key process to improve the future of California’s water infrastructure. Your voices made a difference!

 

Check out our Delta Conveyance fact sheets or the California Department of Water Resources Delta Conveyance webpage for more information.