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County warns of local impacts from possible Delta tunnel; staff outline restoration and groundwater work
Summary
Resource Management staff updated the board on the Delta Conveyance tunnel project, restoration plans and Solano groundwater work. Presenters said the tunnel could divert a large fraction of Sacramento River flow, reduce local allocations (Lake Berryessa allocations could fall by more than 75% in many years) and have long‑term impacts on agriculture and municipal water supplies.
Solano County resource managers told the Board of Supervisors that the state's Delta Conveyance project — a proposed large, 45‑mile tunnel to move water beneath the Delta — could materially harm Delta communities and Solano County water users.
Misty Caughtrider described the project as a single, large conveyance the Department of Water Resources is pursuing and said the estimated cost has climbed to more than $20 billion. "The tunnel would extend 45 miles...and it reduces freshwater outflows needed to maintain salinity," Caughtrider said, noting the project would include multiple construction staging areas with years of surface disruption in and near the Delta.
County leaders and staff also described proposed State Water Resources Control Board flow requirements — the state's draft calls for 55% of unimpaired flows to pass to the Delta — and explained that for Solano allocations tied to Lake Berryessa that requirement would equate to a more than 75% reduction in most years. Chair Mashburn said the combination of the board's proposed flows and the tunnel's diversions create a contradiction that could threaten local water supplies and agriculture: "Just the crop values alone were $500,000,000, but the overall impact would be $1,500,000,000 to our local economy," he said.
Staff also reviewed habitat restoration projects that accompany state planning (Lookout Slough and the Egbert project, each thousands of acres) and noted potential ancillary impacts such as increased total organic carbon in intakes, bird hazards near airports, and constraints for agricultural intakes if listed fish concentrate near pump intakes. On groundwater, staff said the Solano Subbasin plan under SGMA has been approved by DWR, groundwater is generally stable and the county is studying targeted recharge and local management actions.
Supervisors pressed for visuals that show the effect of tunnel diversions on river flows and for continued intergovernmental advocacy; staff said they are coordinating at the Delta Counties Coalition and with federal and state elected officials and will return with additional analysis.
Provenance: water program briefing introduced at item 17 (SEG 2391) and concluded after discussion and Q&A (approx. SEG 3480).
