One or Two? An Update on the Delta Tunnel(s)
No Drill, No Spill: Advocates Take a Stand for the Pacific
A New Organizer Joins Our Ranks
One or Two? An Update on the Delta Tunnel(s)
By Kyle Jones
The Brown Administration is going back to the drawing board with the Delta Tunnels project.
The original design called for two massive 45-foot diameter tunnels, spanning 35 miles, that would divert fresh Sacramento River under the San Francisco Bay Delta. However, some water agencies that would foot the $16 billion bill decided it was too expensive.
The Brown Administration’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) has now responded by changing the project. The new proposal is for one tunnel to be built in the near term, with a second tunnel supposedly being built the future.
The Delta tunnels represent a fundamentally flawed approach to managing the Delta. They would divert water needed to flush the Delta and protect wildlife.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a water wholesaler, and agricultural districts in Kern County did commit to funding their share of the project. However, other key districts decided that the cost was too much to bear, with little benefit. These included irrigation giant Westlands Water District and the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
This left the Brown Administration scrambling to figure out what to do next. On February 7, DWR announced it will move forward with a smaller, one tunnel option, which will also have big challenges.
One tunnel conveying less water makes even less financial sense. Many of the initial construction costs are still present, and the project promises even less water. This approach will likely stick ratepayers with higher bills with no benefit.
The shift to one tunnel without starting over in the application process on some permits isn’t legally defensible. Sierra Club California is currently one of many parties protesting the change in water rights for the tunnels at the State Water Resources Control Board. A big change like this substantially changes the project’s impacts. These hearings must begin again to provide adequate due process for impacted parties.
DWR will have to redo portions of its Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project. A one-tunnel approach was never studied in depth in the original EIR. If the department does want to roll out the project in stages it will have to backtrack its findings in the original EIR that notes that a phased approach won’t work.
Sierra Club California continues to argue for an evidence-based, climate-resilient approach to the Delta. That means limiting the pumping that has degraded the water quality and species of the Delta, and letting more fresh water flow through.
A smarter path to building a strong water system in California would be to help communities that rely on the Delta’s water now to invest in strategies that help them become more regionally self-reliant.
No Drill, No Spill: Advocates Take a Stand for the Pacific
By Katherine Garcia
Hundreds of Sierra Club members and allies joined together on February 9 in Sacramento to rally against offshore oil drilling.
Advocates from across California arrived at our State Capitol energized to chant, raise their banners and march to a meeting about drilling plans proposed by the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The north steps side of the building was transformed into a sea of dolphins, turtles, sharks, whales, and otters with compelling (and pun-rich) messages opposing offshore drilling.
More than half a dozen elected officials spoke passionately at the rally, along with indigenous leaders, environmental justice advocates, health professionals and environmentalists.
State Controller Betty Yee drew rousing applause when she announced to Washington that “the Pacific Ocean is not just another property for you to drill 18 holes in.”
Senators Hannah-Beth Jackson and Ricardo Lara, and assemblymembers Monique Limón, Al Muratsuchi and Jim Wood affirmed their outrage for the offshore drilling proposal and reminded the audience of their timely legislation to block it.
Senator Jackson, who introduced SB 834 described the Trump Administration as “the most backward in the history of the nation.” Assemblymember Limón, who introduced AB 1775, condemned the federal government’s “attacks on our environment, on our ecosystem, on our marine life and on a coastal economy that helps everyday Californians be successful.”
The identical bills, if passed by the legislature by August 31, will protect our coastal environment from the hazards of proposed expanded oil drilling by prohibiting the infrastructure needed to process the oil from being constructed in state waters and lands.
Last month, the Trump Administration proposed the largest expansion of offshore drilling ever, which would allow drilling in nearly all of America’s waters, including six new areas off the coast of California. BOEM, part of the Department of Interior, planned a single public hearing in Sacramento to explain the 2019-2024 draft proposed program for offshore drilling.
Information from the hearing is available online in the BOEM Virtual Meeting Room. If you haven't submitted your comments already, please take a moment to share your thoughts and concerns about offshore drilling. BOEM is accepting your feedback through March 9. If you love our ocean and want to protect the Pacific, send your comments today.
A New Organizer Joins Our Ranks
By Kathryn Phillips
Last fall, we asked Sierra Club California supporters to help us raise enough money to bring on another organizer.
As always, Club members came through and in January, Molly Culton joined our staff.
Molly is from Paradise—yes, there is a town in California named Paradise—and recently graduated from U.C. Berkeley and worked part-time for the City of Berkeley on energy efficiency policy and outreach.
Now as a member of our team, she will be spending most of her time helping implement and expand the Buy Clean effort, which resulted in a landmark bill, AB 262, last year. She’ll also help our water and energy policy advocates with organizing and outreach.
Watch for a call or email from Molly in the future. She’ll be getting to know a lot of our volunteers around the state to help increase involvement in protecting the environment.
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