Rep. Josh Harder Reintroduces Stop Delta Tunnel Bill to Congress : Indybay

Critics and independent scientists say the tunnel will have a devastating impact on family farms in San Joaquin, Sacramento and other Delta counties, as well as on endangered fish populations and the ecology of San Francisco Bay and the delta’s mouth.

On Feb. 9, Representative Josh Harder (D CA-9) reintroduced his “Stop the Delta Tunnel” bill, a bill that would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing the federal permit required by the State of California to build the Delta Transportation Project.

“The Delta Tunnel is a zombie project,” Rep. Harder said in a press statement. “Every time we kill him, the governor brings him back. My bill will end this wasted $16 billion once and for all and ensure that every drop of water in the Valley stays where it belongs.”

“It’s a choice between watering a family farm right here in the Valley or watering someone’s manicured green lawn down south. I will do what is right for the Valley every time,” he explained.

The proposed 45-mile tunnel would divert water from the Sacramento River before it reaches the delta and then funnel it south from Clifton Court Forbay to major Southern California corporate producers and agencies.

Critics and independent scientists say the tunnel will have a devastating impact on family farms in San Joaquin, Sacramento and other Delta counties, as well as on endangered fish populations and the ecology of San Francisco Bay and the delta’s mouth. Strong arguments have been made that the project, by diverting more water from the delta, will hasten the extinction of the delta and albacore smelt, winter and spring Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River, Central Valley steelhead salmon, green sturgeon and other fish species.

“The Delta Tunnel would make our water so salty that it would poison our fields,” Harder said in a Facebook post on Feb. 1. Yes, it’s as scary as it sounds. I’m fighting it with all my might.”

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers recently extended the comment period for the public draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS draft) for the Delta Conveyance project until March 16, 2023. The document was released for public review and comment on December 16, 2022.

The Corps is also currently planning to hold an in-person public seminar on the Delta Tunnel EIS in early March in Stockton. Date and place have not yet been determined.

You may also submit a public comment to the Army Corps Regulatory Office website at Delta Conveyance (army.mil).

In September, when the bill was first introduced in the last session of Congress, KCRA3 News called Rep. Harder’s bill “the strongest move yet to enable the state’s proposed giant water tunnel.”

“The Delta Tunnels don’t upgrade anything,” Harder told the radio station. “All he does is build a giant tunnel to take the water our community depends on and channel it to Los Angeles. I don’t call it modernization, I call it stealing.”

Specifically, the text of the bill states: “The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of Engineer, may not issue a permit under Section 404 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 USC 2 1344) in respect of the Delta Conveyance Project, which is speech. in a document released by the California Department of Water Resources on January 15, 2020 titled “Notice of Preparing an Environmental Impact Statement 6 for the Delta Conveyance Project”.

In January, Rep. Harder held a meeting attended by more than 150 people, all of whom expressed opposition to the Delta Tunnel project.

In July 2022, Rep. Harder, along with Rep. Garamendi and McNerney, introduced an amendment to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing a permit under the Clean Water Act (Section 404) for a state delta tunnel that would export water from the delta, but this effort did not move forward.

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