“ Environmental racism and injustice has made its dent in Stockton, our motherland, for far too long,” she said. 13 about the negative impacts the proposed conveyance project will have on environmental justice communities throughout the state. Stockton resident Jaelyn Sanidad spoke at the Stockton scoping meeting on Feb. “I hope it’s still not too late to listen to any new ideas, or to listen to public input.” “Nine years have passed,” said Pyke at the Feb. Robert Pyke have fallen on deaf ears from the state for nearly a decade after he created the proposal. Even far less destructive alternatives like the Western Delta Intake Concept (WDIC) by engineer Dr. The public has harped on common-sense alternatives, such as desalination, recycling, regional self-sufficiency and additional water storage to meet water supply demands for an ever-increasing population in a drought-stricken state. citizens have voiced that the project is not only bad for the environment, but the thriving Delta agriculture and recreation economy. Unless the Newsom administration starts to consider a wide range of alternatives, many fear he is in danger of repeating the same mistake. The coequal goals shall be achieved in a manner that protects and enhances the unique cultural, recreational, natural resource, and agricultural values of the Delta as an evolving place.”ĬA WaterFix largely failed because it did not meet the co-equal goals set forth by the Delta Stewardship Council, who voted not to approve the plan in 2018. The Delta Reform Act and Delta Plan require a conveyance facility to meet: “t he two goals of providing a more reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring, and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. Mayor of Oakley Kevin Romick (left) listens on after speaking out against the tunnel project as other residents give alternatives and cite the many flaws with the project’s design. “One tunnel is no better than two tunnels.”Īt meetings, residents consistently emphasized that the plan does not follow the co-equal goals, charged in the Delta Reform Act of 2009. “ A common mantra has been one cannot take more water from an estuary and expect it to be resilient,” said Clarksburg resident and North Delta C.A.R.E.S. Construction is expected to last upwards of 10 years. The intakes would be located near the Delta legacy communities of Clarksburg, Hood and Courtland and would span nearly a mile on the river – completely altering critical endangered species habitat, agriculture and the Delta’s picturesque landscape. The project’s preferred alternative would construct two intakes on the Sacramento, with the possibility for a third. It’s the same map we’ve been looking at for years. “There are alternatives…but I don’t see any alternatives. “ This project is astronomically wrong,” said Sutter Island farmer Tim Neuharth at the Feb. At meetings in Walnut Grove, Stockton, Clarksburg and Brentwood, a diverse group of farmers, fishermen, elected officials, climate/social justice activists, economists and engineers came out in force to oppose what is often referred to as the “boondoggle” project. To submit written comments, e-mail them to the past month, DWR has been holding scoping meetings in the Delta and select locations throughout the state. Public comments on the project are due by March 20, 2020. Newsom’s goal, as outlined in the state’s Water Resilience Portfolio, is to complete the revamped project’s environmental review by early 2022, with final biological opinions and all environmental permits completed by the end of that year. While the project is considerably smaller, the design would include a 6,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) tunnel, constructed 150 feet underneath the Delta.īrown’s original plan is back – in a condensed version of the 1970’s plan to build a peripheral canal that was rejected by voters in a 1982 referendum. Gavin Newsom, but the first-term governor has revived the project as a single tunnel alternative. Jerry Brown’s twin tunnels or California WaterFix was abandoned in 2019 by Gov. 15, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) released the Notice of Preparation to start the environmental review process for a single tunnel project to divert water from the Sacramento River south via intakes to the Tracy pumps.į ormer Gov. Delta residents hold up “Save our Delta: No Tunnel” signs at the Department of Water Resources Scoping Meeting in Brentwood on Feb.
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