Monday June 9, 2025
Sierra Sun Times —
Last week, Senator Jerry McNerney released the following:
Opposition to Governor Gavin Newsom’s proposal to fast-track the costly and destructive Delta Tunnel Project via the state budget is deepening. The broad bipartisan coalition against the tunnel fast-tracking plan now includes more than 100 legislators; cities, counties, and public agencies; good government groups; environmental and tribal organizations; and nonprofits and local businesses.
In addition, a recent report from California’s independent Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) raised serious red flags about the tunnel fast-tracking proposal and urged the Legislature to pause the governor’s plan to provide lawmakers with more time to examine the proposal’s wide-ranging impacts.
“The deepening opposition to the tunnel fast-tracking plan strongly demonstrates that the Legislature should reject this proposal,” said Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, co-chair of the California Legislative Delta Caucus. “The Delta water tunnel will cost at least $20-plus billion — and likely much more — and will destroy 4,000 acres of prime farmland in the fragile Delta, along with salmon fisheries and tribal resources. Plus, the tunnel’s unaffordable costs would have to be shouldered by ratepayers who are already overburdened by skyrocketing utility bills.”