Calleguas and Metropolitan officials brief Port Hueneme Water Agency on Delta Conveyance Project

Representatives from Calleguas Municipal Water District and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California briefed the Port Hueneme Water Agency on the Delta Conveyance Project during the agency’s regular meeting, outlining the project’s scope, expected benefits and permitting status.

The presentation, delivered by Charlotte Lopez Holifield, manager of external affairs at Calleguas Municipal Water District, and Nicole Richardson, a Metropolitan Water District representative, explained that the proposed project would construct a roughly 45‑mile tunnel and two new northern Delta intake facilities to modernize the State Water Project and increase the system’s ability to capture and move water during extreme storm events.

The project is intended to strengthen long‑term supply reliability for State Water Project contractors and reduce vulnerability to seismic events, sea‑level rise and shifts in precipitation patterns. Richardson said the design aims to “capture and move water during really heavy storm events or snowmelt runoff and then deliver it to reservoirs and groundwater basins throughout the state.”

Presenters said the project’s goals fall into four benefit categories: climate resiliency (better capture of atmospheric‑river flows and storage for dry years), seismic resiliency (reducing delivery vulnerability if levees or Delta infrastructure fail), operational resiliency (more flexibility to divert water while managing fisheries restrictions) and water‑quality reliability (reducing salinity intrusion and algae risks at diversion points).

Richardson told the agency that, on modeling done for recent wet periods, an operational conveyance system of this design could have moved roughly 956,000 acre‑feet of additional water between October and the following June — an amount she said would be enough to supply about 10 million people for a year, or about 3 million households.

She also summarized the regulatory and schedule milestones: the project completed CEQA review and certification in 2023, and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is currently pursuing pre‑construction permits, including water rights proceedings before the State Water Resources Control Board and a consistency certification submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council. DWR must complete those steps before construction can be considered; Metropolitan and other state water contractors will later be asked whether to invest in construction.

Richardson said Metropolitan has contributed about $300 million toward the environmental review, design and preconstruction work since 2020 and that the full project cost has been estimated at up to roughly $20.1 billion, with Metropolitan’s potential share around 47 percent of that estimate. She and Holifield emphasized that financial and final participation decisions remain subject to future board votes by Metropolitan and by individual state water contractors.

Board members asked about the 13–22 percent projection for potential supply loss over the next two decades if the State Water Project is not modernized, current evidence of saltwater intrusion, the project’s declared earthquake resilience, and the expected effect on local water rates. Presenters said the 13–22 percent figure was a DWR projection for supply risk if the system is not modernized, that saltwater intrusion is not presently affecting local treatment operations to a degree that requires different treatment, and that financial impacts on retail rates remain under analysis pending final design and financing decisions.

No action or vote was requested or taken by the Port Hueneme Water Agency on the Delta Conveyance Project. Presenters said they would return with updates as permitting and contractor investment decisions progress.