California Governor's Giant Water Tunnel Project to Cost Over $20 Billion

The ambitious project championed by California Governor Gavin Newsom to build a giant tunnel aimed at capturing more water during heavy rain and storing it to better prepare for longer droughts caused by climate change is set to cost more than $20 billion, according to an announcement made by the governor's administration on Thursday, May 16.

State regulators have been working on some version of a water tunnel system for several decades. The original plan proposed two tunnels by the previous governor, Jerry Brown, but the latest form championed by Governor Newsom's administration centralizes the project into a single giant tunnel. The new tunnel aims to capture more water from the Sacramento River during major storms and transport it south for storage.

The last cost estimate for the single tunnel project, dating back to 2020, was $16 billion. However, the new analysis reveals a revised cost of $20.1 billion, with the increase attributed mainly to inflation that surged after the pandemic. The project will be funded by 29 local public water agencies, financed through their customers.

Projected Benefits and Environmental Concerns

An analysis conducted by the Berkeley Research Group and funded by the state predicts that the tunnel would yield $38 billion in benefits, primarily due to an increased water supply that would be more resilient to natural disasters such as earthquakes. However, environmental groups have raised concerns about the potential devastating impacts on the already fragile ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The environmental impacts highlighted in the analysis include lost agricultural land, reduced water quality in the Delta, and adverse effects on air quality, transportation, and noise.

Beyond environmental concerns, the project has become a political point of contention in the Central Valley's farming communities, where it is viewed as another attempt by Southern California to divert water from the north. Lawmakers have obstructed efforts to expedite the tunnel's construction, and U.S. Representative Josh Harder has voiced opposition to the project, stating that it is designed to benefit urban areas in Southern California at the expense of Delta communities.

State Water Project and Climate Change Threat

The proposed tunnel forms part of the State Water Project, which supplies water to 27 million people and irrigates 750,000 acres of farmland. However, the increasing threat of climate change is endangering this water supply. State officials have predicted a 22% decline in State Water Project deliveries by 2070 due to climate change.

The proposed tunnel would be approximately 45 miles long and 36 feet wide, with the capacity to transport over 161 million gallons of water per hour. State officials argue that this tunnel would enable the state to capture more water during "atmospheric rivers," which are intense storms that can persist for weeks during the rainy season. The analysis released Thursday suggests that the tunnel would increase water deliveries by about 17%, nearly offsetting the anticipated decline due to climate change.

Karla Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water Resources, emphasized the necessity of the project, highlighting the economic and societal impacts of declining water supplies. She stated, "There is a very real cost to do nothing. It is vastly more efficient and economical to avoid declining supplies."