The Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) hearing continues this month, scheduled for September 2, 5, 11, 15, 18, 19, 22, 29 and 30. Hearing dates are also scheduled for October 1, 6, 9, 10, 14, & 15. Additional proposed, but not confirmed, hearing dates are September 23 and October 20, 23, 27, 28, and 29.
The August hearings were limited to presentations by witnesses representing the State Water Contractors and the cross-examinations of these witnesses. Not surprisingly, these witnesses said the contractors they represent would like the water supply benefits of the proposed tunnel under the Delta. Most witnesses framed these benefits as offsets to potential future water supply reductions due to climate change.
Egret in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta’s Sevenmile Slough along Twitchell Island, June 2025. Image: Xavier Mascareñas, California Department of Water Resources
The remaining witnesses in this phase of the hearing will be witnesses for the parties protesting the petition of the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to add a 40-mile tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the State Water Project. The first three expected witnesses are Dr. Susan Paulsen, Dr. Jeffrey Michael, and Dr. Jon Rosenfield.
- Dr. Paulsen, Practice Director and Principal Scientist of the engineering and science consulting firm Exponent, will testify about the negative impacts of the DCP on Delta water quality and agriculture.
- Dr. Jeffrey Michael, director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana and former Director of the Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific, will testify that the cost estimates for the DCP are understated and the estimates of benefits are overstated.
- Dr. Jon Rosenfield, Science Director of San Francisco Baykeeper, will testify that the DCP will worsen already terrible conditions for fish in the Bay-Delta ecosystem.
CSPA’s witnesses Chris Shutes, Dave Hurley, and Dave Fries are likely to testify in late September or early October.
Trailer Bill Horror Show
Regrettably, the Newsom Administration’s proposed trailer bills to fast-track the DCP (and to eliminate environmental review of Delta flow requirements) are alive and well. For further explanation, see previous CSPA blog here.
The California legislature reconvened after Summer Recess on August 18. September 12 is the last day for each house to pass bills. October 12 is the last day for the governor to sign or veto bills.
The Administration and DCP proponents are flooding the press and the internet with pro-trailer bill propaganda.
Lester Snow, former Director of DWR, suggested in an August 20, 2025 op-ed that the DCP trailer bill would “surgically trim processes used by opponents to slow the project, without short-circuiting review or public participation.” CSPA considers it to be a very twisted view that cutting the heart out of environmental review and foundational water law is “surgical.”
The State Water Contractors, for their part, recruited Wade Crowfoot, California Secretary of Resources. for the Contractors’ August 20, 2025 press release in support of the DCP trailer bill. In the release, Mr. Crowfoot alleged that without the DCP, “those in disadvantaged communities could face higher costs,” and how “it’s about keeping water affordable.” This is a project that economists from EcoNorthwest, an environmental policy consulting firm appearing on behalf of the California Water Impact Network (CWIN) in the DCP water rights hearing, testified could cost $60-100 billion. That amount is three to five times DWR’s current projected costs!
The interests of the Newsom Administration and the largest water users in California have become entwined. It no longer surprises anyone that California’s Resources Secretary is quoted in a press release for the State Water Contractors.
More DWR Tunnel Vision
On August 6, DWR launched the DCP “accountability plan,” ostensibly to increase transparency regarding the DCP. The plan involves:
- The establishment of an Ombudsman Office, with no contact listed yet listed.
- The creation of the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP). This action is already required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
- The establishment of a $200 million Community Benefits Program for affected areas near DCP construction sites.
The California Legislative Delta Caucus (CLDC), a group of legislators that act to protect the Delta, issued a press release in response that said $200 million was not enough to compensate affected communities for the destruction of prime farmland, the loss of fisheries and historic tribal resources, and a decade of construction. CSPA ally Restore the Delta, a Stockton-based nonprofit that advocates for the preservation of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta, issued a blistering response, criticizing the plan as “lipstick on a pig.”
Help CSPA Oppose the Delta Tunnel Fiasco
If approved, the DCP is expected to take at least 15 years to build. It would require building a 36-foot-wide tunnel, 100 to 130 feet underground, with a length of 45 miles. It would also be far more expensive than current estimates, as described in the CWIN testimony referenced above and in the testimony of Dr. Michael.
CSPA is steadfastly opposed to the DCP and the destruction it will cause. Together, CSPA staff and attorneys, with very modest financial support, are heavily engaged in the water rights hearing to oppose the DCP. Here’s our message to DWR and Governor Newsom:
“Don’t take more water from the Delta for the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. We need it right here in Northern California for our clean water, our fisheries, and our communities. We don’t need token compensation and weak constraints on mining Northern California water for export.”
Please donate to CSPA today to support the fight against Delta tunnel fiasco.