Today, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced a new benefit-cost analysis for the unnecessary Delta Conveyance Project. The analysis showed that the Project will allegedly create “billions of dollars in benefits for California communities,” and revealed that the Project could cost $20 billion. 

In response, Food & Water Watch’s California Director Chirag Bhakta issued the following statement:

“We all want and need a solution to California’s water crisis, but pouring billions of dollars into the expensive and destructive Delta Conveyance Project is not the answer, and, as environmental advocates have been saying for years, it is not the right strategy to deal with our state’s lack of water resilience. 

“Not only could this Project have a negative impact on the vibrant and necessary local wildlife habitats and further degrade the Delta’s water quality, but it is not a smart use of funds. Rather than building this unnecessary Project, Governor Newsom and the Department of Water Resources must immediately rein in the water abuses by big agribusiness and fossil fuel corporations. For example, Food & Water Watch reporting has shown that expanded nut crop acres required more than 520 billion gallons more water in 2021 than just four years prior. Meanwhile, alfalfa irrigation guzzles around 945 billion gallons of water per year, mega-dairies use more than 142 million gallons per day and climate-polluting oil and gas operators devoured 3 billion gallons of freshwater between 2018 and 2021.

“The climate crisis is upon us and we don’t have time to wait, especially when Californians are living without access to safe, fresh water. Our leaders must stop the abuse of our state’s water from corporate giants like Big Oil and Big Ag before it’s too late, and the Delta Conveyance Project is not the answer.”

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