The Delta Tunnel Will Burden Ratepayers and Reward Corporate Players

The DCP: Financially Strapped Households Pay, the Politically Connected Prosper

The cost of living in California has always been high – and it’s getting worse for low-income and working-class residents. While the focus typically is on housing, home energy and food, water costs often go overlooked. But water rates have been rising quickly across the state, further stressing household budgets and necessitating public response.

In Southern California, urban water agencies have been making critical investments in conservation and local water supplies to buffer against intensifying droughts triggered by climate change. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the state provided over $385 million in water debt relief. [1] Managing the impacts of these investments on water bills has been a significant challenge, but Governor Newsom nevertheless is aggressively pushing for the construction of the Delta Tunnel – also known as the Delta Conveyance Project – which could cost upward of $40 billion after the inevitable construction cost overruns and interest on bonds.

The Delta Conveyance Project would send already high rates skyrocketing, with no plan for mitigating water bill impacts to ratepayers. In fact, when presented with a bill to create a low-income water payment assistance program, Governor Newsom vetoed it. [2]

“It’s really an insult to hardworking Californians struggling to make ends meet to claim the DCP is necessary to achieve water security,” said Max Gomberg, a California Water Impact Network Board Member and the group’s Senior Policy Advisor.

“People and businesses that have heeded the calls for conservation should not be burdened with higher bills for this project,” said Gomberg. “We can have water security for Southern California at a much lower cost by expanding recycled water capacity and redirecting water now used to grow alfalfa in the desert.”

Gomberg noted Newsom is pushing the tunnel because it would allow continued subsidization of corporate agriculture in Kern County and development in inland Southern California.

“These subsidies would be paid for by ratepayers in cities from Los Angeles to San Diego, who would get minimal water benefit for their ‘investment’,” Gomberg said.

Gomberg said the Newsom administration should quit trying to gaslight Californians about the Delta Conveyance Project and pursue alternative strategies that are equitable, cost-effective and environmentally sound.

“We cannot have a comprehensive affordability conversation in California without talking about the overwhelming economic burden this project would create,” said Gomberg. “We need leadership that prioritizes helping people make ends meet over receiving campaign contributions from corporate donors.”

[1] See https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/arrearage_payment_program/, accessed April 25, 2025.
[2] See https://www.gov.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SB-222-VETO.pdf?emrc=00d97d, accessed April 25, 2025.

CONTACT

Max Gomberg
(415) 310-7013
maxgombergca@gmail.com

Christina Speed
C-WIN Communications Director
info.cwin@gmail.com
www.c-win.org

The California Water Impact Network is a state-wide organization that advocates for the equitable and sustainable use of California’s freshwater resources for all Californians.

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