Delta advocates: State's water report 'deeply flawed'

A state legislative caucus on Tuesday said a new report on water strategies across the state is deeply flawed and overlooks the widespread destruction the Delta tunnel project will cause.

Released by the Department of Water Resources on Tuesday, the report touts the tunnel project as "the single most effective action for a sustainable water future for California."

The project is estimated to cost at least $20 billion, and the DWR said it can help maintain reliable water deliveries to 27 million residents despite hotter temperatures, more extreme storms, more severe droughts and higher sea levels.

However, the California Legislative Delta Caucus said the project will decimate thousands of acres of prime farmland and environmental habitat, along with historic, cultural, and tribal resources, facts which the caucus on Wednesday said are ignored in the DWR's report.

"The claim that an extremely costly and environmentally destructive project is 'sustainable' and an 'effective' water strategy is false," said caucus co-chairs Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, and Assemblywoman Lori D. Wilson, D-Suisun City.