For Immediate Release: June 24, 2024
Contacts:
Mark Westlund, San Francisco Baykeeper, 510-671-5653, mark@baykeeper.org
Scott Artis, Golden State Salmon Association, 925-550-9208, scott@goldenstatesalmon.org
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053, barbara@restorethedelta.org
Sherri Norris, California Indian Environmental Alliance, 510-848-2043, sherri@cieaweb.org
Superior Court Puts Controversial Delta Tunnel Project on Hold
Tribes, Enviros, Fishing Groups Argued Invasive Geological Exploration Would Cause Irreparable Harm to the Delta, Fisheries and its People
Sacramento, Calif.—Late last week, the Sacramento County Superior Court stopped the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) from performing invasive investigatory geological work the agency deemed necessary before building the controversial Delta tunnel. This decision effectively shuts the project down until DWR complies with the law and the Court’s order.
The court’s action comes in response to a request by a broad group including Tribes, environmental and public interest nonprofits, recreational and commercial fishing interests, Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties, and other public agencies.
The court found that the proposed geotechnical work was unlawful at this stage. Under the Delta Reform Act of 2009, enacted to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the tunnel must be approved by the Delta Stewardship Council before project implementation can begin. Performing the geotechnical work—extensive trenching, boring, and excavating massive test pits—is the start of implementing the project, therefore requiring approvals the DWR has not yet sought or obtained.
Attorneys for the coalition argued that the tunnel would further decimate ecosystems that are already in crisis, as well as harm the communities that depend on the Bay, the Delta, and their tributary rivers. The tunnel would also degrade the Bay’s water quality, and put irreplaceable Tribal cultural and archaeological assets at risk of destruction. In addition, the attorneys argued that the state—in its rush to build the tunnel—was shutting the public out of the decision-making process, especially those people who live along the Delta and are invested in the waterway’s health.
Quotes from coalition member organizations:
Sherri Norris, Executive Director for the California Indian Environmental Alliance: “CIEA is happy to support Bay Area, Delta and Sacramento River tribes in protecting subsistence fish and cultural resources for current and future tribal generations. Destruction of the Sacramento watershed by the state of California allows the continued extirpation of tribes and advances historical genocide of California’s first Peoples.”
Scott Artis, Executive Director of Golden State Salmon Association: “The fixation on the Delta Tunnel paints a damning picture of the state’s commitment to environmental stewardship, fisheries restoration, and the tens of thousands of jobs that rely on healthy salmon populations. The Department of Water Resources attempting to rush through the project’s geotechnical work before getting legally required approvals not only fast-tracks disruptions to our fisheries but also erodes public trust. It’s time to prioritize the needs of California’s people and ecosystems over corporate interests and shortsighted, fish-killing projects.”
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta: “The Department of Water Resources for 15 years has planned and pushed for Delta Conveyance, circumventing meaningful responses to issues raised by community, Tribes, and local government entities. This litigation is a meaningful corrective in the present, and step to stopping a project that will destroy the estuary and that will fail to provide affordable, reliable water for Southern California.”
Eric Buescher, San Francisco Baykeeper Managing Attorney: “The Department of Water Resources has spent over a half billion taxpayer dollars hyping the Delta Tunnel Project over the last 15 years, and is set to spend billions more. Unfortunately, the agency has yet to show that the tunnel is beneficial, let alone viable, and continues to downplay the very real harms it poses to people and the environment. Any scientifically rigorous and legally defensible analysis of the Delta Tunnel Project shows that the tunnel is harmful and inconsistent with California law. It is time for this expensive and destructive boondoggle to come to an end.”
Golden State Salmon Association (www.goldenstatesalmon.org) is a coalition of salmon advocates that includes commercial and recreational salmon fishermen and women, businesses, restaurants, native tribes, environmentalists, elected officials, families and communities that rely on salmon. GSSA’s mission is to restore California salmon for their economic, recreational, commercial, environmental, cultural and health values.
San Francisco Baykeeper defends the Bay and its watershed against its biggest threats. Its team of lawyers, scientists, and advocates holds polluters and government agencies accountable and has achieved a winning record for over 30 years. Baykeeper is the only organization that regularly patrols the Bay by boat and drone to investigate pollution and harmful activities.
Restore the Delta ensures the health of the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary and Delta communities. The organization has worked since 2006 in the areas of public education and outreach and has grown to over 75,000 regular followers throughout California.
California Indian Environmental Alliance mission protects and restores California Indian Peoples’ cultural traditions, ancestral territories, means of subsistence, and environmental health. Since 2003, CIEA has worked in partnership with Tribes in Northern California, over eighty Tribes today, to increase Tribal participation within the decision-making bodies that affect water quality and to identify strategies to address environmental destruction and resulting toxins that keep families from fishing cultures wherein fish play an important cultural, spiritual, and nutritional role.
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Photo Credit: Creative Commons Doc Searls