Wednesday August 20, 2025
Daily Republic —
The state Department of Water Resources on Tuesday released the first-ever State Water Project Adaptation Strategy, which unsurprisingly highlights the Delta Conveyance Project as the “single most effective action” for a “sustainable water future for California.”
The Delta tunnel project, after all, is DWR’s centerpiece project.
“Anything that compromises the State Water Project poses a threat to public health and economic success,” DWR Director Karla Nemeth said in the statement announcing the new strategy report.
“This analysis helps us understand the best science-based strategies to ensure continued SWP deliveries in the face of both greater aridity and more powerful storms. We need that not just for the public water agencies that pay for the State Water Project, but to continue the role the State Water Project plays in protecting Delta water quality during drought and upstream communities during floods,” Nemeth said.
The report, DWR states, “details over a dozen different actions DWR is already taking or evaluating. The plan concludes that while climate change makes a long-term decline in (State Water Project) annual average water deliveries likely, a portfolio of actions can offset much of the decline,” the state agency said in a statement.
DWR further states that the tunnel project is the most effect strategy on its own, but “also amplifies the impact of other strategies.”
“A combination of responses is needed, because each strategy responds to a different climate stressor. Utilizing a combination of different strategies will result in greater climate adaptation capabilities,” the statement said.
The report lists the climate risks facing the State Water Project as:
• Continued land subsidence, especially in the San Joaquin Valley, which is reducing aqueduct capacity.
• Increased drought frequency and duration, which is straining reservoirs and groundwater basins.
• More extreme precipitation and earlier snowmelt, which is resulting in both flood risks and storage inefficiencies.
• Temperature increases are leading to greater evapotranspiration and altered water demands.
• Rising sea levels are threatening Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta water quality and infrastructure integrity.
To address these challenges, DWR has identified 17 SWP adaptation strategies under three banner categories:
1. Structural Strategies
• Delta Conveyance Project (DCP): A modernized tunnel system to transport water under the Delta, improving earthquake resilience and ability to capture water during high-flow events.
• California Aqueduct Subsidence Remediation: Implementation of preventive and corrective measures to restore aqueduct capacity lost due to over-pumping and land subsidence.
• Increased South-of-Delta (SOD) Storage: Developing up to 2 million acre-feet (MAF) of additional storage (above or below ground) to capture wet year surplus for drought-year needs.
• Delta Drought Barriers: Pre-planning for future extreme statewide drought conditions by completing environmental certification and permitting for a physical barrier in the Delta that has proved effective as an emergency action during past droughts.
2. Operations and Management Strategies
• Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO): Using advanced weather forecasts to optimize water releases from Oroville Dam, reducing flood risks while storing more water safely.
• Enhanced Asset Management: Implementing strategic maintenance practices to increase system reliability and avoid unplanned operational outages.
• Improved Forecasting and Modeling: Advancing short- and long-term hydrologic prediction to inform operational decisions.
• Carryover Storage Targets: Managing reservoir levels in Oroville to preserve water at the end of each water year to guard against multi-year droughts.
• Adaptive Management of Operations and Regulatory Compliance: Improving scientific insight and stakeholder engagement along with collaboration with regulatory agencies to improve permitting and operational effectiveness for achieving regulatory goals.
• Project-Level Climate Resilience Evaluations: Ensuring consistent, high-quality, and science-driven climate analysis for all projects delivers better planning outcomes.
• Shaping Power Load and Generation: Aligning SWP energy use with renewable energy availability to reduce costs and carbon emissions.
• Financial Resilience through Contract Extensions: Ensuring long-term funding capacity for major capital investments and maintenance through water contract extensions to 2085.
• Water Storage Investment Program Project Integration: 2.65 MAF of proposed new storage projects throughout the state, led by diverse partnerships, that would improve Delta ecosystem conditions and require integration with SWP operations to deliver statewide benefits.
• SWP Outdoor Staff Safety Improvements: New guidance and strategies that improve monitoring and assessment to maintain staff safety in hotter, more extreme work environments while meeting operational needs.
3. Nature-Based Solution Strategies
• Environmental Restoration Projects: Reconnecting floodplains, restoring wetlands, and improving riverine habitats to enhance ecosystem resilience.
• Delta Island Land Management: Converting land use practices on Sherman and Twitchell islands to reduce subsidence and enhance climate resilience.
• Feather River Watershed Management: Supporting forest health and wildfire resilience in the watershed that feeds Lake Oroville, a critical water source.
“The governor’s landmark State Water Project Adaptation Strategy confirms what we’ve long known: climate change has already impacted the State Water Project, and without decisive action, future generations could face significant water shortages,” Jennifer Pierre, general manager of the State Water Contractors said in a statement.
“The Department of Water Resources’ analysis makes it clear that the best way to preserve water reliability is through a portfolio of investments, including Delta Conveyance, groundwater and above-ground storage, forecast-informed reservoir operations and repairs to the subsided portions of the California Aqueduct,” Pierre added.
A coalition led by the water contractors are scheduled to demonstrate at 10 a.m. today (Aug. 20) at the Capitol in favor of the Delta tunnel project, and to urge the passage of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Delta Conveyance Project budget trailer bill.
Solano County opposes the tunnel.
“Solano County supports the Delta Counties Coalition’s position and strongly disagrees with DWR’s claim that the Delta Conveyance Project is the “single most effective action” for water resilience,” an email response to the Daily Republic states.
“The (tunnel project) fails to address California’s core water challenges and would cause significant harm to the Delta’s environment, communities, and economy. We continue to advocate for sustainable, regional water solutions that deliver real climate benefits without sacrificing the Delta.”