RELEASE: Harder Reintroduces Bill to Stop the Delta Tunnel and Protect Our Water
Announcement comes as Sacramento attempts to advance Delta Tunnel project today
$20 billion zombie project would cause irreparable damage to Delta communities
WASHINGTON – Today, as Sacramento attempts to advance the Delta Conveyance Project, also known as the Delta Tunnel, Rep. Josh Harder (CA-09) reintroduced legislation to finally kill this disastrous boondoggle once and for all. The Stop the Delta Tunnel Act would prohibit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from issuing a federal permit necessary for the project to be implemented.
In the latest chapter of this boondoggle, Sacramento is attempting to jam through the Delta Tunnel by changing water right permits, despite the fact that these permits expired over 15 years ago. Sacramento is wasting time and making up its own permitting rules in a desperate effort to advance a project that won't create a single drop of water. This all comes at a time when dozens of water projects in the Valley need permitting and would actually create and store the water our communities need. And over the weekend, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the project received an additional permit, making it clear that Sacramento politicians will try anything they can to steal our water and leave us with the bill.
“I’m sick and tired of politicians in Sacramento spending more time on the same tired playbook and not enough time expanding everyone’s water access,” said Rep. Harder. “Make no mistake – this zombie project is a shameful heist designed to steal water from Delta communities with no regard to the devastation it will cause. Today we introduced the Stop the Delta Tunnel Act because our economy and our communities depend on stopping this water grab.”
First proposed more than 60 years ago, the Delta Tunnel is a monstrous zombie project that would cause irreparable damage to Delta communities. Sacramento’s own findings revealed that the project would cost over $20 billion in taxpayer dollars just to build, and if completed would cause $167 million in damages to Delta agriculture, air quality, and infrastructure. In a callous admission of real risks of this project, the state has even established a bribe program to placate outraged communities that are in the direct path of this manmade crisis.
Rep. Harder has been a vocal leader in the fight against the Delta Tunnel. He has:
- Held multiple town halls to amplify the voices of Valley farmers and families.
- Led a major demonstration at the State Capitol in Sacramento alongside environmental activists, agriculture leaders, and concerned citizens.
- Pressed federal agencies to deny permits for the project.
In the last year alone, the cost of the Delta Tunnel has ballooned by 25%.
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