Metropolitan Water District Approves $141.6 Million in Additional Funding for Delta Tunnel

SACRAMENTO – The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s Board of Directors voted on Dec. 10 to approve $141.6 million in additional funding for planning and permitting for the controversial Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), AKA Delta Tunnel, in 2026 and 2027.

The vote drew praise from Governor Gavin Newson and State Water Project contractors — and condemnation from a coalition of Tribes, fishing groups, environmental organizations, family farmers and Delta residents.  

The widely-criticized project would consist of two new intakes on the Sacramento River in the north Delta, an underground tunnel 45 miles in length and 36 feet in diameter, and a pumping plant to lift water from the terminus of the pipeline into the Bethany Reservoir at the beginning of the California Aqueduct.

MWD, the largest supplier of treated water in the United States, is a cooperative of 26 member agencies that provide water to 19 million people across six California counties.    

"After careful consideration, our board took this step because it allows us to gather critical information about the project’s benefits and costs that will allow us to evaluate whether we will participate in the full construction of the project,” said Metropolitan Board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr.

“Along with our investments in storage, a more resilient distribution system, conservation and local supplies, the State Water Project remains a cornerstone of water reliability for the 19 million people in our service area,” he added. “Without it, salinity in our water could become unmanageable.”

Governor Gavin Newsom echoed Ortega’s statement celebrating the vote by the 38-member board.

“Thanks to today’s vote by the Metropolitan Water District, the Delta Conveyance Project now has the continued support of water districts serving more than half our state,” said Governor Newsom. “This project is one of the nation’s most important infrastructure projects in generations because it will protect access to clean and safe drinking water for 27 million Californians. We’re building the momentum we need to build this project and others across the state, faster.” 

The Governor’s Office said the Delta Conveyance Project “is a critical part of Governor Gavin Newsom’s build more, faster agenda delivering infrastructure upgrades across the state.”   

Delta Tunnel opponents describe project as unjust water grab

However, in contrast with the glowing assessments of the project by Newsom and Ortega, Delta Tunnel opponents described the vote as a move that furthers “an unjust water grab from California’s Delta communities.”

“Secretary Wade Crowfoot misled the Board, falsely claiming collaboration with Delta residents, despite having no meetings with these communities since 2019,” according to a statement from Restore the Delta (RTD).

“The Delta Tunnel, built on flawed voluntary agreements, seeks to divert vital river water into a costly tunnel funded by MWD ratepayers. Meanwhile, Governor Newsom aims to expand the San Joaquin Valley’s agricultural economy at the expense of the Delta’s environment, communities, and Southern California ratepayers. This project fails to address real climate-resilient water solutions or deliver affordable outcomes for Californian,” the group said.

“While today’s decision moves the project forward, it faces numerous permitting and legal hurdles. Restore the Delta remains steadfast in opposing this harmful plan and will continue fighting to protect the Delta, its people, and its ecosystems,” RTD vowed.

The Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (EJCW) said they were “disappointed and deeply concerned” by the Metropolitan Water District’s  decision to allocate additional funding for the Delta Tunnel project, calling it “the most carbon-intensive water project in the state’s history.” They noted that it “fails to address California’s urgent water challenges, including inequities in water rights and the fulfillment of the Human Right to Water.” 

“The Delta Tunnel project represents an outdated approach to water management that prioritizes corporate interests over the needs of communities that depend on the Delta for their livelihoods and cultural heritage,” said Esperanza Vielma, Executive Director at EJCW. “This project poses significant risks to the Delta’s fragile ecosystem, depleting fish populations, degrading water quality, and harming public health in vulnerable communities.” 

The group said the construction and operation of the Delta Tunnel are “misaligned with California’s climate goals and water justice priorities.”

“Rather than pursuing this destructive and carbon-intensive project, MWD should focus on equitable and sustainable solutions, such as groundwater recharge, infrastructure upgrades for under-resourced areas, and community-driven water management initiatives,” EJCW stated.

“We urge MWD to reject this harmful project and redirect resources toward real solutions that ensure clean, affordable, and sustainable water for all Californians—not just a select few,” added Conner Everts, Ex Oficio EJCW Board Member .

Tuesday’s vote was preceded by a vote Monday by the One Water and Stewardship Committee of MWD to approve the $141.6 million for planning for the Delta Conveyance Project after receiving comments both for and against the project. 

The vote was 13 to 1, with 1 abstention. Mark Gold was the one vote against the funding.

Dozens of people from both Northern and Southern California made comments urging MWD to vote against the funding or to delay the vote, citing both environmental and financial impacts of the project.

Krystal Moreno: Project is being sold on fear and lies

Krystal Moreno, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Program Manager for the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, stated, “MWD should draw lessons from the past two decades - demand is down, people are being more efficient with water usage. Costs are up and affordability is a growing crisis."

“This project is being sold on fear and lies. Fear that without it, there won’t be enough water for Southern California’s economy. Lies that there is not an affordable alternative,” Moreno noted.

Emily Popilardo, Delta resident and engineer, urged the committee to consider an “armored pathway” alternative to the Delta Tunnel.

“I’ve worked on levees and permitted many projects over the past 15 years,” she stated. “I want to reach across the aqueduct and create a project that actually benefits you. The Delta Conveyance Project is not that project."

"The engineers in the Delta have promoted an armored pathway to improve the levees through the paths that water travels to heighten the levee crowns, thereby increasing flood resilience, benefitting fish species, and protecting the water supply for the State Water Project,” Popilardo said.

MWD should consider freshwater pathway plan

Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta, also urged the board to consider the freshwater pathway plan.

“Has your staff fully analyzed the freshwater pathway plan for the Delta?” she asked. “Your mindset seems to be that it’s the tunnel versus abandoning the State Water Project and that’s not true.”

"We ask that you delay the vote,” Barrigan-Parrilla urged. “We’d really like to see Met board members come to the Delta and speak with Delta engineers, local residents, and community groups. I have a feeling you’d change your thinking for costs and conveyance strategies.”  

In her comments, Sierra Club California staffer Caty Wagner asked, “Met has spent nearly $1 billion since the initial planning for the peripheral canal and what does Met have to show for it? Sites and Pure Water are going to cost billions and Met can’t afford it all.”  

Nancy Blastos, Inland Empire Resident and water ratepayer, stated, “I strongly discourage spending more money on studying the Delta Conveyance Project. We can catch water and store stormwater and we can also recycle and practice conservation. This is a catastrophic plan for our environment."

Sierra Club California Staffer Layne Fajeau disagreed with the Department of Water Resources’s contention that the tunnel will increase “water security” in the face of earthquakes, drought, and climate change.

“In reality, the tunnel will increase greenhouse gas emissions and further destabilize the hydrology of Northern California. It diverts funding away from levee stabilization that would actually protect the State Water Project in the event of an earthquake,” Fajeau explained.

Bruce Resnick, Executive Director of the LA Waterkeeper, stated, "All of these previous projects have failed because the folks in charge won’t sincerely sit down and meet with folks - tribal folks and environmentalists - and make genuine compromises. That’s why these projects fail." 

Tunnel will have catastrophic impact upon Bay-Delta ecosystem

Other opponents of the tunnel testified to the destructive impacts the project would have upon salmon, other fish species and San Francisco Bay-Delta Ecosystem.

“Already, the water that is being taken out of the Delta and sent South is having serious environmental consequences,” argued Karen Jacques, a resident of Sacramento. We’re seeing the potential extinction of a number of different species including salmon."

Likewise, John, a Delta resident, stated bluntly: “This is the worst idea I’ve ever heard. The DCP ensures environmental disaster to the largest estuary in western North America. It is not necessary, safe, or practical. Local water capture projects are a much better use of California’s funds.”

Director Desi Alvarez, the representative of the West Basin Municipal Water District on MWD’s Board of Directors, said the “financial aspects are a real consideration here.”

“I don’t understand the urgency. Our current budget is in a $240 million deficit. With this expenditure, this agency has some serious financial issues and needs to think about how it’s spending its money,” Alvarez pointed out.    

Water rates will go up

Mario Barrigan from IEW Local 11 claimed, "This project will serve disadvantaged communities and it is about the human right to clean water.”

However, ratepayer Wesley Chung pointed to the rate increases that would result from investing $141 million in the project.  

“As a low-income person, [the tunnel] cost increase would be prohibitive, alongside the rises in cost of living. I would urge you to invest $140 million in other local projects,” he said.

In a similar vein, Sydney, local resident, said, "I do not want our water rates to go up and our hard-earned dollars be spent on a project that might not even hold up as water disappears. I demand that we invest more of our budget in sustainable projects, like rainwater harvesting and stormwater capture.”    

Cynthia Cortez of Restore the Delta summed up the environmental and economic consequences of the board’s decision.  

“Today you will decide on whether to continue investing in a project that harms local communities and wildlife or fund local projects that supports local communities in Southern California and ecosystem health in the Delta,” Cortez said. 

Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in worst-ever crisis

But despite the testimony by a diverse group of water ratepayers, environmentalists, Tribal representatives and environmental justice communities as to the devastating environmental, economic and cultural impacts of the tunnel, the MWD Board of Directors, under intense political pressure from Governor Newsom, voted to approve the $141.6 million in funding for tunnel planning and permitting process. 

Newsom’s campaign to build Sites Reservoir and the Delta comes as Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in their worst-ever crisis. The Delta Smelt, once the most abundant fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, is virtually extinct in the wild, due to massive water exports to agribusiness and other factors over the past several decades. Zero smelt have been caught over the past six years in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Midwater Trawl Survey.

The ocean and river salmon fishing seasons have been closed for the past two years, due to the collapse of Sacramento River and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations. Meanwhile, endangered winter and spring-Chinook salmon populations are moving closer to extinction. Butte Creek, once the stronghold of spring run Chinook, saw a record low of 100 fish return to spawn last year and an even lower number of fish this year.

The Delta Tunnel will divert Sacramento River water before it reaches the Delta when what imperiled fish populations need is more water flowing through the Delta, not less. I challenge tunnel supporters to cite a single project in U.S. or world history where a river or estuary was restored after more water was diverted out of that river or estuary.