An aerial view of the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant, the first major plant designed and constructed within the California State Water Project.
Delta conveyance refers to State Water Project (SWP) infrastructure in the vast network of waterways comprising the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) that collects and moves fresh, clean and affordable water to homes, farms and businesses throughout major regions of the state from the Bay Area to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is the owner and operator of the SWP and is responsible for all associated upgrades and maintenance, including the proposed Delta Conveyance Project that will modernize this water transport infrastructure in the Delta.
The Delta is at the center of California’s vital water distribution system. Two-thirds of California’s water originates in the Sierra Nevada Mountains as snowpack, eventually flowing through the Delta, where, consistent with water rights, including applicable water quality requirements, it is delivered to more than 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The infrastructure that enables conveyance for California’s primary water supply is critical to the health of local communities and the success of our state’s economy.
Because the SWP relies on the Delta’s natural channels to convey water, it is vulnerable to earthquakes and sea level rise. Upgrading SWP infrastructure protects against these threats and secures the longevity of the SWP and the future reliability of SWP water supplies. The purpose of the proposed Delta Conveyance Project is to modernize the aging SWP infrastructure in the Delta to restore and protect the reliability of SWP water deliveries in a cost-effective manner, consistent with the State’s Water Resilience Portfolio. And in doing so, allow DWR to address sea level rise and climate change, minimize water supply disruption due to seismic risk and provide operational flexibility to improve aquatic conditions in the Delta.
View more frequently asked questions related to the Delta Conveyance Project.
For the first episode in a special two-part Delta Conveyance Deep Dive series on tunnel construction, we invited two of the Delta Conveyance Project design team's leading consultants on tunnel design and engineering to talk about the state‑of‑the‑art technology that would be used to build the Delta Conveyance Project.
In a recent episode in the Delta Conveyance Deep Dive video series, we invited Genevieve Taylor, executive director of Ag Innovations, to tell us about the Environmental Justice Survey implemented by the company in the fall of 2020 as part of the Delta Conveyance Project’s public engagement plan.
In the second of two Delta Conveyance Deep Dive episodes on seismic risks in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, we hear from two of California's leading seismology experts about the vulnerability of the Delta to a major seismic event.
In the first of two Delta Conveyance Deep Dive episodes on seismic risks in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, Laurence Sanati, head of the DWR Flood Systems Analysis Section, speaks about the potential consequences of a major earthquake in or near the Delta and the measures currently in place to deal with such an event.
Questions and More Information:
1-866-924-9955 | deltaconveyance@water.ca.gov
Media Inquiries:
Lisa Lien-Mager (916) 653-9402
Lisa.LienMager@resources.ca.gov
Ryan Endean (916) 798-1701
Ryan.Endean@water.ca.gov