State lawmakers are approving a series of bills to fast-track infrastructure projects across sectors. But the package moved forward only after the Newsom administration trimmed out its Delta tunnel proposal, along with controversial desalination projects.
Gov. Gavin Newsom pressed the Legislature to quickly approve the budget trailer bills in part to demonstrate to federal policymakers the state is able to spend infrastructure dollars in a timely manner. This comes after a decade-long delay for new water projects through Proposition 1 funding that has exasperated Democrats and Republicans alike.
The most contentious bills at the heart of the negotiations related to streamlining environmental permits for the Delta Conveyance Project. The administration’s proposal for a water tunnel beneath the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta derives from a concept the state has been considering for about 80 years. A bipartisan group of lawmakers representing the region has fiercely opposed the tunnel—along with the bill.
“I'm from the Valley, I want to get things done,” said Senator Susan Eggman of Stockton, a former Agriculture Committee chair, during a budget hearing on the package last month. “But if we really want to get things done, take the Delta conveyance out.”
Sen. Susan Eggman, D-StocktonEggman has also been skeptical of building the Sites Reservoir and unsuccessfully championed a measure last year to require the State Water Resources Control Board to implement a controversial Delta water quality plan before the state constructs the tunnel.
Responding to Eggman’s opposition to the tunnel, Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot stressed that the project is not about expanding the amount of water exported through the Delta but ensuring resilience to sea level rise, earthquakes and saltwater intrusion.
“We believe that actually we will reduce conditions that exist right now, where endangered species are actually sucked back into pumps,” said Crowfoot.
With climate change, the state will have 10% less water by 2040, according to the administration. Crowfoot stressed the importance of projects like the tunnel to take bigger gulps of water during high-flow events.
Feeding into the lawmakers’ concerns, a coalition of environmental groups that have long litigated over Delta issues, blasted the trailer bill and held rallies at the Capitol calling for more protections for endangered Delta fish species.
“The Delta Conveyance Project will make things worse,” argued Doug Obegi, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, during the hearing. “We need to reduce diversions from the Delta.”
With the rejection of the tunnel, the project could face lengthy judicial hearings over lawsuits along with extensive regulatory review under the California Environmental Quality Act, a law notorious for stalling construction projects opposed by interest groups.
Lawmakers had originally objected to the trailer bill package over concerns of a lack of time to adequately review the ambitious proposals. They were still assessing the governor’s revised budget proposal and grappling with a dire tax revenue forecast when Newsom announced his plan. But during a select committee hearing on the package last week, Senate Budget Chair Nancy Skinner assured her colleagues that stakeholders have had ample time to review and comment on the proposals and, while the bills do not address all the concerns, the government is “agile and able to respond” to any unintended impacts.
“Not everybody got what they wanted in this budget,” said Sen. Anna Caballero of Merced, who is proposing to expand the state’s water supply. “I certainly did not.”
She described the frustrations as part of the typical budget process and said she was proud of the projects that did make it into the package, since they will “protect us from the worst ravages of climate change.”
“We absolutely need to get projects moving and on time,” said Caballero. “It's critically important that we show the rest of the country that California can get things done and that we're not going to be delaying projects that are desperately needed.”
Despite dropping the Delta tunnel, the package has gained strong support from the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), Agricultural Council of California, Almond Alliance, and Western Growers Association.
“It's really going to help—certainly from the water perspective—move the needle on some of these critical water infrastructure projects that are needed to address climate change,” said Adam Quinonez, a legislative and regulatory relations director at ACWA.
The Assembly has approved the measures and the Senate will take them up on Wednesday.
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