EMWD Takes Leading Role in Supporting Modernization of Delta Conveyance Facilities

Perris, CA (November 15, 2024) – Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) has placed itself at the forefront of California water planning through a unanimous resolution in support of the proposed Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), which will modernize the state’s primary water delivery system.

The resolution was approved during EMWD’s November 6, 2024, Board Meeting.

EMWD is California’s sixth-largest retail water agency and serves one of the fastest-growing regions in California. It is partially dependent on the State Water Project (SWP) to meet the needs of nearly 1 million customers.

The DCP is the state’s proposed plan to modernize the SWP system through the construction of a new conveyance system that will create greater water supply reliability, adapt to climate change, increase water quality, and reduce the environmental impacts and pumping restrictions in the south Delta. 

“This is one of the most important water infrastructure projects we will see in our lifetime,” EMWD Board President Phil Paule said. “As one of California’s leading water agencies, EMWD is fully supportive of the DCP, which will provide a more secure water supply future for our region and our state.”

The project faces a critical vote by The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in December. That vote will determine whether Metropolitan makes another investment in the design and planning of the project. EMWD is one of 26 member agencies of Metropolitan.

Approximately 27 million Californians depend on water from the SWP system, which also irrigates crops critical to the world’s food supplies. But the system has numerous vulnerabilities that threaten its reliability. 

Because the intake facilities for the current system are in the south Delta, pumping restrictions often occur to protect endangered fish species. The DCP would construct intake facilities in the north Delta and convey water through an underground tunnel to the SWP pumps. This would reduce environmental impacts and related restrictions, while allowing the state to capture and move more water during most years. It would also deliver a higher quality water supply, which could be used for groundwater replenishment and improve local water quality.

The DCP would mitigate against seismic risks that threaten the Delta, which has hundreds of miles of levees that do not meet modern engineering standards and are at risk of failure. A levee breach would cause an inflow of salty ocean water into the low-lying Delta, cutting off drinking water supplies for months or years.

The project will help California adapt to climate change by ensuring it could capture and move additional water in years with large amounts of rainfall in a short period of time. The DCP is also more cost-effective than other water supply infrastructure alternatives.

“The DCP will create a more sustainable water future, provide widespread benefits to our state’s economy, and maintain water affordability,” Paule said. “We must act now so that future generations have a more secure water delivery system in place.

“EMWD strongly urges water leaders throughout the state, including the State of California, to recognize the benefits of this project and ensure it is fully entitled before the end of the current gubernatorial administration.”