FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 11, 2022
Contact: Brandon Dawson, brandon.dawson@sierraclub.org
Sierra Club Responds to Governor Newsom’s Updated Water Strategy
Sacramento, CA - Today, the Newsom administration released an updated water strategy to address the increasing drought conditions across California. In the document, the administration outlines four specific actions:
- Developing new water supplies;
- Expanding water storage capacity;
- Reducing water demand; and
- Improving forecasting, data, and management, including water rights modernization
The strategy comes on the heels of the Department of Water Resources’ July 27th release of its draft environmental impact report for the Delta Conveyance Project, a proposed tunnel project that would divert water from the Bay-Delta region and threaten the health of the region’s ecosystems and communities.
In response, Brandon Dawson, Director of Sierra Club California, issued the following statement:
“This strategy includes many items that Sierra Club California has been advocating for, including investment in environmentally beneficial water supply projects such as water conservation, improved efficiency, water recycling, and stormwater capture.
Unfortunately, this strategy doubles down on promoting water storage projects, such as Sites Reservoir, that won’t provide new water supply but will detrimentally affect California’s rivers, lakes, streams, and communities. And it doesn’t address the harmful impacts that Newsom’s antiquated tunnel project, the Delta Conveyance Project, will have on the Bay-Delta region.
We’ll be working closely with our environmental justice, Tribal, and conservation allies to ensure that implementation of this strategy doesn’t cause greater damage in the long run.”
Sierra Club California is the legislative and regulatory arm of Sierra Club’s 13 local chapters in California, representing half a million members and supporters.