C-WIN: The real cost of Newsom's Delta Tunnel could be anywhere from $60 to $100 billion
SACRAMENTO — As Californian salmon and Delta fish populations collapse because of massive water diversions and other factors, the California Water Impact Network has submitted written testimony and a detailed report to a hearing of the State Water Resources Control Board blasting Governor Newsom’s proposed Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) for being “overvalued, under-analyzed and a massive blow to ratepayers and the environment.”
In 2024, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) estimated the cost of the project, also known as the Delta Tunnel, at $20.1 billion in undiscounted 2023 dollars. Water agencies and their ratepayers that receive water from the State Water Project (SWP) are supposed to pay for the project costs.
But economic experts reveal that the real costs, if the tunnel was built, would add up to many times that estimate. In reality, the Delta Tunnel could cost anywhere from $60 to over $100 billion.
“Our testimony and full report were prepared by ECOnorthwest, a leading environmental economics research firm, and it documents how the DCP simply doesn’t pencil out,” said Carolee Krieger, C-WIN’s executive director. “ECONorthwest estimates that if it ends up getting built, the DCP could cost anywhere from $60 to over $100 billion.”
That is 3-5 times higher than the approximately $20 billion that the Department of Water Resources has been falsely claiming.
“Like the MAGA budget, the DCP represents a massive transfer of money from working Americans to powerful corporations and wealthy plutocrats,” said Gomberg. “The DCP will basically exist to provide guaranteed revenues for Southern California water agencies and to maximize profits for almond and pistachio producers in Kern County, with most of the costs borne by Southern California ratepayers and taxpayers. Their children and grandchildren will still be paying the interest and operating costs of this massive boondoggle decades from now.”
The ECONorthwest testimony, prepared by Dr. Mark Buckley, details multiple flaws with the DCP, including the following:
Cost Overruns and Affordability
“The Oroville spillway restoration was supposed to cost $200 million. It ended up costing $1.1 billion – 450% higher. Estimated costs for the California High Speed Rail were $33 billion, with real costs now standing at about $128 billion and rising. DWR’s low-ball cost estimate for the DCP similarly fails to account for multiple sources of uncertainty and financial risks. With inevitable cost overruns and water rates rising quickly, the DCP could force many households, both urban and rural, to choose between paying for water and other basic needs.”
Opportunity Costs
“A project that could end up costing well over $60 billion negates the possibility of other investments in conservation, local supplies such as recycled water and stormwater capture, and retirement of agricultural land.”
Overestimated Municipal Water Demand
“Urban water use is steadily declining as Californians become more waterwise. Moreover, California’s population growth is slowing in part due to climate change-induced cost of living impacts, including increased insurance rates. The cherry-picked forecast water demand scenario used to justify the DCP therefore has no basis in reality.”
Fishery Collapse
“Economic losses from salmon fishery impacts would range between present value $1.1 and $2.6 billion over the lifetime of the DCP.”
The ECOnorthwest report also documents flaws in DWR’s assessment of seismic benefits and agricultural impacts, further undermining their justifications for the DCP.
“It is time to put this fever dream to bed and the ECONorthwest report proves why,” summed up Gomberg.
Read the full testimony and report.
The written testimony was submitted as Central Valley salmon and Delta fish populations are in unprecedented crisis as the state and federal water projects divert many millions of acre feet of water from the Sacramento River-San Joaquin River Delta every year. Commercial salmon fishing in California has been closed for three years in a row off the California coast, due to the collapse of the Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon populations.
The testimony of a Department of Water Resources engineer reveals that the Delta Tunnel, if built, would result in 22 percent more water from the Delta on average per year — when what struggling salmon populations need is less water diverted from the Delta.
But the salmon are not the only fish suffering for the massive water exports from the Delta. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has just released the results from white sturgeon monitoring surveys suggesting that the white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) population in California has continued to decline.
“CDFW fisheries biologists now estimate there are approximately 6,500 white sturgeon between 40-60 inches long in California — down sharply from the previous estimate of approximately 30,000 fish in that size range, based on the 2016-2021 survey average,” the CDFW said in a statement.
By contrast, the Department estimated the population of fish in the legal size range to be around 200,000 in 2002.
“There may be many reasons for the downward trend, including mortality from harmful algal blooms, poaching, past sport fishing harvest and poor river and Delta conditions,” the CDFW stated.
Though the CDFW fails to point it out, the “poor river and Delta conditions” are largely the result of massive water diversions from the Sacramento River and its tributaries and water exports from the state and federal pumping facilities on the Delta.
And the construction of the Delta Tunnel would hasten the extinction of white sturgeon, green sturgeon, Delta smelt, longfin smelt, Sacramento River winter, spring and fall Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead and other species by exporting even more water from the ecosystem!
#8647 #NoKings #ProDemocracy
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