Newsom celebrates Delta tunnel advancement while his bond plan is shot down
The Delta tunnel project cleared a key regulatory step Thursday after the Delta Stewardship Council — a state body created in 2009 following the Legislature’s passage of the Delta Reform Act to oversee planning — voted to uphold the state’s finding that the project complies with the Delta Plan.
The approval came with two caveats: State officials must review whether the project could worsen the invasive golden mussel problem and address concerns about possible conflicts with Sacramento-area recycled water systems.
The greenlight for the controversial, 45-mile-long Delta tunnel project, which would move water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to supply farms and cities farther south, drew praise from Gov. Gavin Newsom but criticism from environmental and tribal groups, who say the project could harm species that depend on the Delta’s fragile ecosystem.
“California must quickly complete the Delta Conveyance Project in order to meet our water needs in the future,” Newsom said in a news release on Friday.
“With this project meeting this milestone, we are closer than ever to seeing this important piece of infrastructure completed and benefiting all Californians. Let’s get this built.”
California has relied on expanding water infrastructure to address recurring water shortages — from dams and canals to the Delta tunnel project. Environmental advocates worry that, as climate change intensifies, the already stressed Delta ecosystem could face even greater risk from low freshwater flows, wildlife habitat destruction and construction damage from the Delta tunnel project.
Environmental and tribal groups filed lawsuits against the project in 2024, contending that it violates CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act. Following Thursday’s 6-1 vote, many of those groups, including the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, reiterated their commitment to challenging the project.
The tunnel would divert water from the Sacramento River, which has struggled with low flows this year as the state nears a record-low snowpack after unusually hot March temperatures. Just last month, more than six million juvenile salmon released from Coleman Hatchery into the Sacramento River faced great danger from low flows, prompting conservation groups to call on the Bureau of Reclamation to release more water from reservoirs into the river.
Thursday’s decision also came as a coalition of counties opposing the project celebrated a legal victory after the California Supreme Court refused to review an appeal court’s ruling that rejected Newsom’s request for a bond the project. State officials estimate the project will cost about $20 billion, while opponents say it could cost as much as $60 billion.
“The Delta Stewardship Council does not know the legality of what they ruled on because DWR’s (California Department of Water Resources) documents do not support the consistency of the project for Tribes, environmental justice communities and fisheries,” said Gary Mulcahy, a government liaison at Winnemem Wintu Tribe in a news release on Friday.
This story was originally published April 24, 2026 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Newsom celebrates Delta tunnel advancement while his bond plan is shot down."
