Officials defend Delta Conveyance trailer‑bill language as litigation looms; lawmakers voice concern

Department of Water Resources Director Carla Nemeth and Department of Finance staff defended trailer‑bill language aimed at accelerating the Delta Conveyance project during a May hearing of the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 2, while several senators and other attendees warned the provisions risked undermining environmental review, tribal protections and local property rights.

Nemeth told the committee the department anticipates extensive litigation and is seeking “judicial streamlining” to obtain faster court decisions and to reduce years of delay that officials say inflate project costs. She said the trailer‑bill language is not intended to remove environmental review: the project has a certified CEQA document, a California Endangered Species Act permit and pending water‑rights proceedings before the State Water Resources Control Board.

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) and its Office of General Counsel described two main items in the language: a 270‑day statutory timeline for court review modeled on prior infrastructure statutes, and provisions limiting extraordinary injunctions…