Garamendi, Harder Call on U.S. Army Corp to Reject Permits for Delta Tunnel Boondoggle
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers a decision in the years-long water saga, Congressman John Garamendi (CA-08), a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and members of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Congressional Delegation - including Representatives Josh Harder (CA-09), Ami Bera (CA-06), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-11) and Doris Matsui (CA-07)- called on the Army Corps to deny the federal permits required for the Delta Tunnel to be completed. They called for the Army Corps’ final Record of Decision to protect Delta waterways, families, and our regional economy by denying these permits.
If approved, the Delta Tunnel would be a disaster for the Delta:
First proposed more than 60 years ago, the Delta Tunnel is a monstrous zombie project with ballooning costs, growing to at least $20 billion in 2024 and potentially as high as $100 billion last year according to the latest analysis.
That doesn’t even factor in the devastating damages that Delta communities would face – Sacramento’s own findings revealed $167 million in damages to Delta agriculture, air quality, and infrastructure.
Even preliminary work on the Delta Tunnel would be extreme – massive trenches, boring holes up to 250 feet deep, and major installation projects would tear up dozens of sites across the Delta.
“I’m fighting with everything I’ve got to block the Delta Tunnel boondoggle. Taxpayers shouldn’t be spending tens of billions of dollars to endanger water access for Californians, increase the likelihood of droughts, destroy local wildlife habitats, and render critical fertile farmland useless,” said Rep. Garamendi.
“The proposed Delta Conveyance Project would have a direct, negative impact on environmental justice communities, Delta farms, commercial and recreational fishing, and Delta ecosystems,” said Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs, Restore the Delta. “The US Army Corps of Engineers relies heavily on DWR's incomplete EIR, which is currently subject to litigation, to demonstrate minimal impact to the project area, ignoring the cumulative impacts on an already impacted economy and sensitive ecosystem. If the US Army Corps of Engineers moves forward with the record of decision and associated permitting, Delta communities and ecosystems are facing a decade or more of construction, reduced flows resulting in declining water quality, further degradation of a declining ecosystem, and increased negative impacts to the Delta's declining river economy.”
Read the full letter here.
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