Field Investigation Project, Due Dec 11, 2023

Samyak Salgiya
Professor Neil Schaffer

Differing Perspectives of the Delta Conveyance Project on Water Quality and Environment

around the Delta

(A1) The Proposal

The proposed project by the Department of Water Resources (DWR) includes the

construction of a large tunnel, new pumping plants to redirect water from the Sacramento-San

Joaquin Delta to other parts of California as part of the State Water Project (SWP) in order to

ensure a supply of water through unforeseen environmental circumstances. The CEQA reports

that these water tunnels will supply water throughout California, starting from the Delta and

extending towards areas such as Southern California. The three alignment sites as part of the

proposed project include the Central, Eastern, and Bethany Reservoirs (07/22/22, para.1). The

DWR will make the final decisions of the project, but it must undergo the California

Environmental Quality Act process before production.

(A2) Context and Historical Background

27 million California residents obtain water from the State Water Project, which is an

intricate transport system of reservoirs and canals. A major portion of the precipitation in

California falls in the eastern and northern mountains, while most of the water is needed down in

the central, western, and southern parts of the state.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is where much of the water travels through from the

watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers on its way to the San Francisco Bay and

into the Pacific Ocean. In the Delta, the Banks Pumping Plant intercepts some of the water and
diverts it into aqueducts and tunnels which travel throughout the state, even reaching the

US-Mexico border. This water is a necessity to the thousands of communities and the prominent

agricultural industries of the state.

However, according to the California DWR, water resource specialists are concerned that

California’s primary water supply is at risk due to several causes: weak infrastructure,

earthquakes, and climate change (All the information in this paragraph is derived from California

DWR, 10/14/2023, various times stamps). Any sort of breach in the infrastructure could cause

salt-water from San Francisco Bay to mix with fresh-water that is pumped throughout the state.

According to the model by Gaddie et al. from the California Water Boards, there have been over

160 levee-damages in the Delta, the most significant being the flooding of the Lower Jones Tract

in 2004 because of a breach in the West Levee of Upper Jones Tract (Gaddie et al., 10/14/2023,

pg.1). Additionally consequences of climate change, including rising sea-levels, unpredictable

storms, and long periods of drought can severely impact the water supply.

(A3) Other Key Elements of the Proposal

If continued with the Bethany Reservoir Alignment, two new 3,000 cubic feet per second

(cfs) water intake facilities, Intake B and Intake C, would be constructed in the north Delta to

redirect water, an underground tunnel to convey water to the South Delta, a pumping plant

complex between Byron Highway and Mountain House Road, and a connection from the

Bethany Reservoir to the California Aqueduct. The underground tunnel, which will be 100 feet

below ground level) will be made using TBMS (Tunnel-Boring Machines) that are between 6-15

miles long. These machines will dig into the soil using disks lined with picks that will rotate,

removing the excavated material it interacts with. The external diameter of the tunnels will be 39
feet, whereas the internal diameter will be about 36 feet (Maven’s Notebook, 11/30/23,

paragraph 8-10).

(B) Arguments for The Proposal

A primary goal for the Delta Conveyance Project is to reduce salt-water contamination

into the freshwater transportation system. Saltwater intrusion can impact the quality of water and

leave devastating ecological health issues and risks for human consumption. The California

DWR (07/14/2023, various time stamps) believes that by building further away from the San

Francisco Bay - for example, more inland areas such as the Bethany Alignment site - the state

can reduce the chances of saltwater intrusion from the ocean.

While building water transportation systems inland, the construction of tunnels with

intakes - structures used to pull water from a reservoir and deliver through a system of penstocks

and hydroturbines - would give the State Water Project added opportunities to collect water when

it is available, if catastrophic weather events were to occur. The California Climate Adaptation

Strategy states, “However, there is high confidence in projections that even if precipitation

remains stable or increases, drought severity and the number of dry years will increase, even as

more extreme precipitation events may occur” (Summary of Projected Climate Change Impacts

on California, 11/29/30, paragraph 6). Just in March 2023, the heavy amounts of precipitation

from atmospheric rivers caused a levee breach in the Pajaro River, displacing over 8000 residents

in the Watsonville area. Tim Arango and Shawn Hubler, correspondents of the New York Times

announced, “Pajaro is the latest community to suffer from a levee break in California. Intense

atmospheric rivers and snowmelt will keep testing the river walls that protect millions of

residents” (11/29/23, paragraph 1). Levee breaches not only cause saltwater intrusion, but pose
threats to intense flooding as seen in Pajaro, CA. Upgrading the water transport infrastructure

thus should only serve to protect the water supply in unforeseen weather conditions.

The California DWR has voiced that the Delta Conveyance Project plans on using

subterranean tunnels for water delivery, as this method proves safer during earthquakes as

opposed to canals or levees, as earthquakes have been known to cause levee-damages (07/14/23,

various time stamps). The Delta Levee Investment Strategy wrote in their report, “The

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and Suisun Marsh are in and adjacent to some of the highest

seismic hazard zones in the United States (USGS 2014a). Earthquakes originating in or near the

Delta or Suisun Marsh can result in levee slope failure, cracking, settlement (loss of freeboard),

foundation liquefaction, and lateral spreading” (July 2016, page 73, paragraph 3). Graham

Bardner, the executive director of the state’s Delta Conveyance Design and Construction

Authority, claims “ ‘more seismically resilient, particularly in a setting like the Delta, where

you’ve got shallow foundation soils that are loose, poorly compacted, and pretty difficult to

construct on,’ ” as written in Maven’s Notebook, the California Water News Central (11/30/23,

paragraph 9).

Finally, the California DWR believes that modernized infrastructure in the Delta can

support local water supply projects throughout the state, including proper storage, recycling of

water, and groundwater recharge (07/14/23, various time stamps). Areas that will be benefited

(C) Arguments Against the Proposal

Experts argue that continuing with this project will reduce essential fresh water flowing

through the Suisun Bay and San Francisco Bay, leaving the estuary around this area further

deteriorated. This estuary, as stated from the Sierra Club, “provides breeding grounds and

habitat for a range of animals, including Chinook salmon and the endangered Delta smelt”
(Sierra Club, 12/4/2023, para. 1). Furthermore, the Sierra Club believes that building a single

tunnel would divert millions of acre-feet of freshwater from the parts below the Delta estuary,

increasing its salinities levels from 20 to 60% of its original content.

Writers from Restore the Delta state that the DWR acknowledges that stagnant water

would exist during tunnel operations. Due to hotter climate and the increase in water stagnation,

there is a higher risk of harmful algal blooms, most commonly Microcystis found in the

Bay-Delta Estuary. The exposure of this bacteria is a public, ecological threat as it is known to be

deadly towards wildlife, pets and human beings, even being a cause of liver cancer. (DWR,

10/19/2023, para. 7).

The article continues to explore other effects of delta tunnel constructions, speculating the

increase of water intake ability. Writers at Restore the Delta believe that increasing water intake

ability could increase selenium levels in soil. “Water exported from the Delta via the tunnels

would increase the frequency and reliability with which irrigation water would be delivered and

applied to agricultural lands in the western San Joaquin Valley lands where the soils have

naturally-occurring high levels of selenium. At just slightly elevated levels, selenium becomes

actively poisonous.” At higher concentrations of selenium in soil embryonic defects,

reproductive problems, and risk of death in vertebrate animals are increased. Increasing water

intake ability could increase selenium levels in soil, which causes embryonic issues, reproductive

problems, and death in vertebrate animals (DWR, 10/19/2023, para. 13).

Another targeted group of animals targeted by the project include fishes native to the

Delta and the Sacramento River. Author Rachel Becker, from CalMatters, states, “In the report,

state officials said the tunnel project could harm endangered and threatened species, including

the Delta smelt, winter-run chinook salmon and steelhead trout” (Becker, 2022, para.2) The
Center for Food Safety believes that the construction of tunnels would prevent the water flow

required for fish habitats and water quality during the critical life states of fishes including

chinook salmon, steelhead trout, green sturgeon, and delta smelts (Center for Food Safety, 2017,

para.11)

Overall, continuing with the Delta Conveyance Project poses threats towards hygiene and

biodiversity in the Bay-Delta estuaries and areas throughout the tunnel construction.
(D) Bibliography

Arango, T., & Hubler, S. (2023, March 15). California levee failures mount as storms ‘
continue relentless drive. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/14/us/california-storm-pajaro-levee.html

Becker, R. (2022, July 27). Delta tunnel: Salmon at risk from Massive Water Project, state report
says. CalMatters. https://calmatters.org/environment/2022/07/delta-tunnel-water-report/

California Department of Water Resources. (2023, November 8). The Delta Conveyance Project.
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/52dc0a1a3ded44c9b6d33a804fdd260f

This source takes a stance in support of the proposed project. This source is reliable
because the California Department of Water Resources is a government agency that is
directly proposing this project. This organization has existed since 1956 and dealt with all
the water infrastructure planning since then. This source acknowledges other texts in their
argument, and also occasionally cites them throughout the article.

California DWR. (2022). Delta Conveyance Project Quick Question #1: What is Delta
Conveyance? Retrieved November 30, 2023, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPQ9ZGAD33k.

Delta conveyance project. (2022, December 23). https://ceqanet.opr.ca.gov/2020010227/3

Delta tunnels impacts on Bay-Delta Water Quality. Restore the Delta. (2023, November 8).
https://www.restorethedelta.org/delta-tunnels-impacts-on-sf-bay-delta-water-quality/

This source takes a stance against the proposed project. This source is reliable because
Restore the Delta is a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the Bay-Delta
estuaries and Delta communities. Additionally, this organization has existed since 2006
and has reached over 75,000 members in California. This source acknowledges other
texts in their argument, and also cites them throughout the article.

Friends of the river – current threats to the Sacramento-san joaquin river delta: Friends of the
river. Friends of the River | The Voice of California’s Rivers since 1973. (2022,
December 18).
https://www.friendsoftheriver.org/our-work/rivers-under-threat/delta-threat-2/

Gaddie, V., & Mierza, M. (n.d.). Levee Failures in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Lawsuit challenges destructive delta tunnels project in California. Center for Food Safety. (2017,
August 21).
https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/5636/california/press-releases/5045/lawsuit-c
hallenges-destructive-delta-tunnels-project-in-california

This source takes a stance against the proposed project. This source is reliable because
the Center for Food Safety is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting farmers
 and helping protect the earth from the harms of industrial agriculture. Additionally, this
organization has existed for over twenty years. This article does a good job citing
information from other sources, as seen in the bolded text.

Proposed Delta Conveyance Project. DCA. (2023, November 18).

https://www.dcdca.org/overview/#:~:text=Final%20decisions%20about%20the%20proje
ct,California%20Environmental%20Quality%20Act%20process

This source takes a stance in support of the proposed project. This source is reliable
because the Delta Conveyance Design & Construction Authority is the official
organization of the proposed project. All the information in this specific article states the
proposal, information and context about the current water transportation system, and even
a map marking where construction zones would be located. This article does not really
state or use information from other sources.

RISK ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY.(2023, November 18).

https://cawaterlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/DLIS-RISK-ANALYSIS-METHO
DOLOGY-JULY-2016-Final.pdf

Summary of projected climate change impacts on California. Summary of Projected Climate

Change Impacts on California - California Climate Adaptation Strategy. (2023,
November 8).
https://climateresilience.ca.gov/overview/impacts.html#:~:text=Temperature,%C2%B0F
%20by%20late%20century

The Basics on the Delta Conveyance Project 2022. MAVEN’S NOTEBOOK | California Water
News Central. (2022, August 10).
https://mavensnotebook.com/delta-conveyance-project-2022/