Delta Independent Science Board requests extension on Delta tunnel Draft EIR comments

On September 2, 2022, Lisa Wainger, the new Chair of the Delta Independent Science Board, sent a letter to the Department of Water Resources Director, Karla Nemeth, asking for a 30 day extension of time to comment on the Delta Conveyance Project Draft EIR.

The DISB Chair’s letter gave the following reasons for asking for the extension:

We have been actively working to review the document, but more time would be helpful for the following reasons.

• • • First, we are finding that the main chapters do not have sufficient information to judge the quality of methods and sources of uncertainty, and so we need more time to review the appendices and other supporting materials.
    • Second, we are finding it necessary to reread some chapters after first reading related chapters to better understand and compare methods and impacts across resources.
    • Third, the review period coincides with the start of the academic year, which is a particularly busy time for most Delta ISB members.

The Delta Counties Coalition previously sent a letter to Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, requesting a 90-day extension of time to comment on the huge document. Their letter noted:

The document includes over 3,000 pages of text and nearly 16,000 pages
of appendices. In addition, numerous modeling results are associated with the analysis of environmental impacts in the Draft EIR. Understanding this modeling will be critical in assessing the project’s impacts on fisheries, water quality, air quality and noise, among other impacts on our counties. We are still in the process of obtaining the modeling results necessary for our staff and experts’ use in their technical review of the Draft EIR released on July 27, 2022.

Further Reading

Des Jardins, D. Delta ISB review of Delta tunnel project proceeding under huge time pressure . California Water Research blog, July 25, 2022.

Des Jardins, D. On the Delta Independent Science Board and Inconvenient Truths. California Water Research blog, April 19, 2021.