On December 8, 2023, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued its Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for its Proposed “Delta Conveyance Project” (aka tunnel under the Delta). In thousands of pages of responses to comments, DWR affirms that its Draft EIR was right on just about everything.
One thing DWR says it was right about is how it didn’t need to analyze an alternative that looked at increasing flow through the Delta. The reasoning is telling: “Regarding the comment regarding an alternative with increased unimpaired flow, such an alternative was determined to not be consistent with the project purpose nor would it meet most of the stated basic project objectives in Chapter 2, Purpose and Project Objectives.” (FEIR Response to Comments, Table 4-4, p. 354).
Right. Increased flow through the Delta is not consistent with the project purpose of the Delta tunnel. CSPA knew that. It’s good to see DWR fess up.
The Bay-Delta Plan offers the opportunity to restore enough Delta outflow to support restoration of the Delta and its aquatic ecosystem. On the other side of the flow ledger, the Delta tunnel only works if there’s not enough Delta outflow to support restoration of the Delta. Equally, Sites Reservoir only works if there’s not enough Delta outflow to support restoration of the Delta.
That’s why CSPA is fighting on all three fronts at once:
- To support a workable high flow alternative for the update of the Bay-Delta Plan (Speaking to the State Water Board and preparing written comments on the Draft Staff Report/Substitute Environmental Document in Support of Potential Updates to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary for the Sacramento River and its Tributaries, Delta Eastside Tributaries, and Delta)
- To respond to DWR’s flawed Final EIR for the Delta tunnel and to prepare for water rights hearings.
- To respond to the Sites Authority’s flawed Final EIR for Sites Reservoir and to prepare for water rights hearings.
Adequate flows in the Bay-Delta Plan will change the entire calculus of the Delta tunnel and Sites.
But approval of the Delta tunnel and/or Sites will set in concrete arguments against a high flow alternative for the Bay-Delta Plan.
Restoration of the Bay-Delta estuary and California’s largest watershed, or increased overallocation of freshwater flows? That’s the question for California water in the next two years.