U.S. Rep. Josh Harder Planning To Contest Delta Tunnel Plan
As California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new but still controversial Delta Tunnel plan this week, some of the state’s politicians representing in Congress are pushing back.
Rep. Harder (D), who represents California’s Congressional District 10 (northern San Joaquin Valley), put out the following press release last week:
WASHINGTON – Today, Representative Josh Harder announced that he has introduced an amendment alongside Reps. Garamendi & McNerney to stop the Delta Tunnel Project and protect Central Valley water. Specifically, the amendment will prohibit the Army Corps of Engineers from issuing a Clean Water Act (Section 404) permit for the state of California’s Delta Conveyance Project (tunnel) which would export water out of the Delta. Representative Harder has been a staunch opponent of the Delta Tunnel project since he was first elected in 2018.
“I refuse to let politicians in Sacramento get away with a water grab that would take Valley water and ship it downstate,” said Rep. Harder. “It’s time we protect our Valley water so every farmer, rancher, mom and dad has the water they need to support their business and their family. My family has spent generations on the Delta, and I plan on protecting it so my daughter can do the same.”
According to a UC Merced study, last year’s drought cost California farmers more than $1.1 billion and the lost the state nearly 9,000 agricultural jobs, with the brunt of that damage impacting the Central Valley. This year, 60% of the state in “extreme” drought or worse, including the entire Central Valley. “There is no end in sight for California’s drought,” wrote an expert from Bloomberg earlier this year.
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