Central Valley Project
Credit: USBR
Supports Delta Protection Commission and Counties Filings Detailing Threat Posed by Tunnel to Historic Delta Communities
September 21, 2022 - WASHINGTON, DC - On Tuesday, Congressman John Garamendi (D-CA), former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior who represents the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in Congress, led a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers underscoring the deeply flawed Delta Conveyance Project’s impact of historic Delta communities.
If completed, the Delta Conveyance Project—also known as the “Delta Tunnel”—could devastate the Delta’s ecosystem. Garamendi’s letter highlights the proposed tunnel's impact on historical landmarks in the Delta and exposes serious shortcomings in the Army Corps’ permitting for the proposed tunnel. In early August 2022, Representatives Garamendi, Josh Harder (D-CA-10), Jerry McNerney (D-CA-09), and Mike Thompson (D-CA-05) urged Governor Newsom to cancel the planned construction of the tunnel in response to the draft state permitting by the California Department of Water Resources.
Representatives Josh Harder (D-CA10), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA11), Jared Huffman (D-CA02), Jerry McNerney (D-CA09), Mike Thompson (D-CA05), and Ami Bera (D-CA07) cosigned Garamendi’s letter to the Army Corps.
“As you know, the Army Corps is the lead federal agency for the permitting process under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act,” the Representatives said in the letter. “As such, you are responsible for ensuring a fulsome consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act. To date, we are very disappointed to learn that the Army Corps has not responded to the Delta Protection Commission’s or the Delta Counties’ written comments, requests for subsequent meetings, or provided access to the State’s application materials for the Delta Conveyance Project necessary to evaluate the scope of historic properties identified.
“The Army Corps’ continued failure to accommodate these reasonable requests undermines the consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act. Furthermore, the Army Corps cannot develop an accurate Draft Environmental Impact Statement under the National Environmental Policy Act without first examining the proposed Delta Conveyance Project’s glaring impacts on the Delta’s historic communities identified by the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Counties,” the Representatives continued.
“We urge you to ensure that the Army Corps accommodates with these reasonable requests and improves consultation with the Delta Protection Commission and the Delta Counties. The Army Corps’ actions to date are unresponsive, inadequate, and undermining any credibility for the Section 106 consultation process under the National Historic Preservation Act for the State’s proposed Delta Conveyance Project,” the Representatives concluded.
Garamendi’s full letter is available to read here.
The Delta Protection Commission’s March 29, 2022, comments to Army Corps are available here.
The Delta Counties Coalition’s March 30, 2022, comments to the Army Corps are available here.
Source: Congressman John Garamendi
Related: Congressman Josh Harder Introduces Bill to Stop the Delta Tunnel Project – Would Protect California’s Central Valley Water
