CALIFORNIA, USA — There is another delay in the process to build a tunnel to transport water under the Delta. This time, another lawsuit has been filed against the state's controversial Delta Conveyance Project.
The plan to build a tunnel or tunnels under the Delta has been controversial for decades. Just last month, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released a new environmental impact report acknowledging the significant impacts the project would have on the environment. In response, the group Restore the Delta, filed a lawsuit.
"We have partnered with other nonprofits and tribes that work on water advocacy in the Delta in filing a CEQA lawsuit against the Department of Water Resources," said Cintia Cortez, with Restore the Delta.
The current Delta Conveyance Project plan would put one tunnel under hundreds of miles of the Delta to allow for water to be transported across the state. For many groups, they believe the project would hurt communities and wildlife more than benefiting them.
"It falls short in analyzing the impacts that environmental justice communities and Delta communities will experience," said Cortez. "It also fails to fully analyze the impacts that threatened and endangered species will experience in the Delta."
DWR provided the following statement regarding the situation.
"CEQA lawsuits are not unexpected or unusual. DWR is aware that several parties intended to pursue a CEQA legal challenge to stop the project before the EIR was even complete and regardless of whether the EIR complied with CEQA requirements. The Delta Conveyance Project EIR is thorough, responds to all substantive public comments, and most importantly it meets and, in many cases, exceeds CEQA requirements. DWR will review the lawsuits and respond accordingly, and will proceed as planned with permitting, and continued planning and design for the Delta Conveyance Project. This project is vital to modernizing the State Water Project and protecting water reliability for 27 million Californians."
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