Opinion: Our water future is at stake
June 18, 2025
By Valerie Pryor
Zone 7 Water Agency delivers safe, reliable and affordable water to over a quarter of a million residents in eastern Alameda County. We do this by importing surface water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as a part of the State Water Project.
In fact, 70% of the total water supply for the Tri-Valley communities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and the Dougherty Valley of San Ramon is delivered through the Delta.
Various factors, including aging infrastructure and a changing climate, have resulted in significant reductions in the reliability of the State Water Project supplies. Recent estimates by the California Department of Water Resources show that the State Water Project may only be about 50% reliable in delivering the water supply through the Delta.
For communities that depend heavily on this imported water supply, this could significantly impact our quality of life, economic vitality and environmental wellbeing. Restoring the long-term reliability of this water supply is critical to the Tri-Valley communities.
That’s why we support Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to streamline and expedite the Delta Conveyance Project. His plan would reduce costly administrative delays, avoid unnecessary litigation and save the state billions of dollars in unnecessary delays.
More importantly, it would help modernize the State Water Project so it can continue securing water reliably in the face of climate extremes, aging infrastructure and seismic risks. The Delta Conveyance Project is not providing additional water; it is restoring the water supply already lost.
The project has already undergone rigorous, transparent environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act, including a 142-day public comment period and more than 7,000 public comments. The final environmental impact report — all 22,000 pages of it — was released in December and includes detailed responses to thousands of substantive concerns.
The governor’s proposal doesn’t shortcut environmental protections or override public input. It simply ensures that the state can move forward with planning and engineering while preventing the kind of procedural gridlock that has derailed other critical infrastructure projects.
It also confirms the Department of Water Resources’ authority to issue revenue bonds — not taxpayer-backed bonds — to be repaid by the local public water agencies that choose to participate. There will be no burden on state taxpayers and full local accountability.
There are those that argue that the project is too expensive and that there are cheaper alternatives. Zone 7 has been evaluating alternative sources of water supply for many years and takes into account potential Delta levee improvements, local groundwater storage, additional water conservation and additional water recycling. These are all good tools — and we at Zone 7, and our partner contractors who receive water from the State Water Project, are investing in them.
But these other improvements cannot replace the Delta Conveyance Project, which makes up 70% of the total water supplies of the Tri-Valley. These improvements would only help fill part of the gap that reductions in reliability of the aging State Water Project infrastructure have left. No combination of local projects can replace the volume or affordability of water supplied by the State Water Project.
A recent economic analysis confirmed that State Water Project water is more cost-effective than desalination, recycling, or stormwater capture. And if the project had been in place last year, it could have captured nearly 1 million acre-feet of water — enough for 10 million people — while still meeting all environmental protections.
The State Water Project serves communities up and down the state, including ours right here in Alameda County. Our residents rely on Delta water every day, just like those in the Bay Area, Central Coast, Southern California and the Central Valley.
The Delta Conveyance Project is not about sending water south. It’s about ensuring the entire state, including our own district, has access to a clean, reliable supply of water — now and into the future.
The governor’s proposal is a smart, timely and fiscally responsible way to move California’s most important water infrastructure project forward. The people of eastern Alameda County — and 27 million Californians — are counting on us.
Editor’s note: Valerie Pryor is general manager of Zone 7 Water Agency, the wholesale water provider to the cities of Pleasanton, Livermore, Dublin and the Dougherty Valley area of San Ramon. Zone 7 also provides flood protection services to all of eastern Alameda County. Pryor holds a Master of Arts in urban planning and a Bachelor of Arts in geography from UCLA and a post-graduate diploma in economics from Bristol University, England.