WATCH THE WATER

After decades of failure, California dusts off controversial Delta tunnel water project

Here we go again. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration revived the Delta tunnel project Wednesday, unveiling a downsized version of the controversial, multibillion-dollar plan to re-engineer the fragile estuary on Sacramento’s doorstep that serves as the hub of California’s over-stressed water-delivery network. After three years with little to no public activity, the state released an environmental blueprint for what’s now called the Delta Conveyance — a 45-mile tunnel that would divert water from the Sacramento River and route it under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta so that it can be shipped to farms and cities hundreds of miles away. The blueprint, a 3,000-page draft version of an environmental impact report, is a necessary initial step in securing approvals for the project.

Officials said the single-tunnel proposal, running roughly parallel to Interstate 5, is simpler and creates fewer disruptions than the twin-tunnel plan championed by former Gov. Jerry Brown. Newsom scrapped that plan within weeks of taking office in early 2019 and directed his administration to begin developing a Delta project with a smaller footprint. But the pitch Newsom’s team is making is much the same as the one Brown made: The project is needed to make the Bay Area and Southern California’s water supply more reliable while reducing the harm the current system inflicts on the estuary’s troubled ecosystem. The tunnel, proponents say, would ease the stress on endangered fish species that ply the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.

Read more at: https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/water-and-drought/article263856627.html#storylink=cpy