As part of his May Revise budget proposal, Governor Gavin Newsom has unveiled a major push to expedite the long-delayed Delta Conveyance Project — a critical infrastructure initiative that promises to modernize California’s water delivery system, save billions in costs, and improve climate resilience.

“We’re done with barriers — our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future,” Newsom said Thursday. “Let’s get this built.”

The announcement signals a renewed sense of urgency from the administration to tackle the challenges posed by outdated water infrastructure and accelerating climate change. The Delta Conveyance Project, part of the broader State Water Project, is seen as essential to preserving a reliable water supply for millions of Californians.

A Vital Lifeline for California

The State Water Project, which the Delta Conveyance Project would update, provides drinking water to 27 million people and irrigates 750,000 acres of farmland. It supports an economy that would rank as the eighth largest in the world if the service area were a country, producing $2.3 trillion in goods and services each year.

California’s reliance on this infrastructure is deep, and any failure to maintain and modernize it could come at a high cost. Without the Delta Conveyance Project, water users — particularly the nearly 8 million residents of disadvantaged communities — would face the burden of turning to more expensive, less reliable sources.

Climate Pressures Are Mounting

California’s climate has become increasingly unpredictable, swinging from severe droughts to intense flooding. The current water infrastructure, much of it more than 60 years old, was built for a different era — one with more stable precipitation patterns.

Without upgrades, experts project that the State Water Project’s reliability could drop by as much as 23%, while California is expected to lose 10% of its overall water supply due to warming and drying conditions. In 2023, during a series of atmospheric river storms, the Delta Conveyance Project could have captured enough water to meet the annual needs of 9.8 million people.

Cutting Through Red Tape

Despite its importance, the Delta Conveyance Project has faced repeated delays due to complex permitting and regulatory processes. Newsom’s proposal would address these barriers head-on.

“For too long, attempts to modernize our critical water infrastructure have stalled in endless red tape, burdened with unnecessary delay,” the Governor said.

Newsom’s plan would streamline the project’s path forward by:

• Simplifying permitting, including the removal of certain deadlines from existing State Water Project water rights permits and strengthening enforcement of Water Board permit rules.
• Confirming funding authority for the Department of Water Resources to issue bonds, which would be repaid by public water agencies participating in the project.
• Reducing legal delays by narrowing the scope of judicial review for legal challenges, a method modeled on other large-scale public works efforts.
• Supporting construction by fast-tracking land acquisition required to begin physical development of the project.

A Broader Vision for California’s Infrastructure

Newsom’s support for the Delta Conveyance Project is part of his broader "build more, faster" infrastructure agenda, which aims to deliver long-overdue upgrades while also creating thousands of jobs across California.

The administration certified the final environmental impact report for the project in December 2023 and has already secured financial backing from water agencies serving the majority of the state’s population. But until now, bureaucratic and legal delays have kept the project from breaking ground.

By removing unnecessary barriers and affirming the state’s commitment to reliable water infrastructure, Newsom hopes to safeguard California’s water future against the unpredictable forces of climate change — and do so with greater speed and certainty.

Originally reported by Governor Gavin Newsom