The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued its Environmental Impact Report for Delta Conveyance, the project designed to modernize our state’s water infrastructure in the vast network of waterways found in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Delta Conveyance is a much-needed update to California’s water infrastructure, ensuring greater reliability and flexibility from the State Water Project system that provides water from the Sierra Nevada mountains to Southern California, Central Valley and the Bay Area.
While versions of this project have been proposed over the years, today’s proposed project is a sharp departure from previous iterations. The Delta Conveyance Project proposed today has been downsized, refined, rerouted, and redesigned to better meet the needs of the communities it serves.
“The Southern California Water Coalition was founded in 1984 to raise awareness of the need for this modernization of the state’s primary water system. We have the best, most feasible version of Delta Conveyance before us today thanks to the collaboration that went on with the Stakeholder Engagement Group in the Delta.
Here’s what I know: the system we have is not working. In this latest drought, we’ve had to erect saltwater barriers as we did in the last drought to slow the tides that carry in saltwater and keep the Delta water fresh and usable for drinking water and irrigation. Delta Conveyance solves this problem by moving the intake upstream, where it is less likely to be impacted by seawater intrusion. This will only become more important as we grapple with climate change impacts.
The state has done a great job of listening to local concerns and incorporating them into the project. This latest, best version of Delta Conveyance will not only provide a more reliable water supply for our region, but it will also create jobs, improve water quality, and restore habitat. It’s clear that this project is about much more than just water – it’s about building a better future for our state. I look forward to seeing the Delta Conveyance become a reality in the coming years,” said Charley Wilson, executive director of the Southern California Water Coalition.