Delta Conveyance: A Court Closes One Door, A Council Opens Another
Two things happened in eight days that change the picture for Zone 7's $443 million share of the Delta Conveyance Project. They point in different directions, which is exactly why ratepayers deserve a careful read.
April 15: the Supreme Court closes the 2020 financing pathway
On April 15, 2026, the California Supreme Court denied DWR's petition for review of the Third District Court of Appeal's decision rejecting DWR's bond-validation action. The Court also denied DWR's request to depublish that opinion, preserving it as binding precedent (Maven's Notebook, April 20; Delta Counties statement).
This is DWR's third consecutive loss in the bond-validation action it first filed in August 2020. The appellate opinion concluded that DWR lacks the authority to approve a new State Water Project "unit" under the guise of a "further modification" of the Feather River Project. With the Supreme Court declining review, that conclusion is now final.
The financing structure DWR has been pursuing since 2020 is no longer available. Some other pathway — legislative, contractual, or otherwise — will have to be developed before construction can be paid for. That pathway has not been published.
April 23: the Delta Stewardship Council finds consistency, with a remand on two policies
Eight days later, on April 23, 2026, the Delta Stewardship Council voted 6-1 to find the project's certification of consistency with the Delta Plan substantially in order, denying the appeals raised by ten separate appellant groups (Maven's Notebook on the vote; DWR's response; Courthouse News).
The Council also remanded the project on two specific Delta Plan policies. Before the project can proceed, DWR must file a revised certification addressing:
- Habitat conditions involving the nonnative invasive golden mussel. The Council asked DWR to demonstrate that the project will not worsen conditions that promote golden mussel establishment in the Delta.
- Conflicts at the Twin Cities Complex with Sac Sewer's Harvest Water program. This area sits at the intersection of agricultural use, groundwater recharge, ecosystem protection, and Sandhill Crane habitat in the Pacific Flyway. The Council wants the conflicts addressed before consistency is final.
The Council further required DWR to submit annual implementation reports starting March 1, 2028 — the kind of standing oversight that responsible mega-project governance ought to include from day one. Governor Newsom called the vote a milestone and said, "Let's get this built" (Office of the Governor). The State Water Contractors, the consortium that includes Zone 7, applauded the determination (State Water Contractors statement).
What changes for Zone 7's $443 million share
Three things:
The financing question is now open. The 2020 pathway is closed. Whatever Zone 7's $443 million share looks like in the next financing plan, it will be priced under different rules than the ones the participating agencies have been planning around. Zone 7 ratepayers should expect updated numbers from DWR before the participating agencies' next major decision in 2027.
The two remand items are not abstract. Golden mussel control and the Twin Cities Complex conflicts are operational issues that affect cost and schedule. Construction would start in 2029 if the participating agencies proceed. Each remand item that survives to the construction phase becomes a line in someone's budget.
Annual reporting is the right floor. DWR submitting yearly implementation reports to the Council from 2028 forward is the kind of public, auditable cadence the project should have had from the start. Zone 7's board should plan to read those reports the same way it reads the agency's own Capital Improvement Plan updates: line by line, with the rate implications attached.
The position has not changed
The seismic case for protecting Zone 7's import supply is real. So are the freshwater, ecological, and cost questions raised by communities downstream of the proposed intakes. Each funding vote deserves its own analysis — that has been my position since I wrote about Zone 7's $443 million share on April 16, and it has not changed this week.
What has changed is that the questions now have more specific answers attached. A bond pathway that is no longer available. Two remand items with names. An annual report cadence with a start date. The next Zone 7 board will sit through the 2027 decision with this record in front of it. That is the kind of homework the board owes ratepayers before the next $443 million tranche of any number is approved.
