The allied groups are calling for recycling more wastewater, capturing more stormwater, improving efficiency and cleaning up contaminated groundwater. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to prioritize our investments, and prioritizing them in local water makes the most sense,\u201d said Bruce Reznik, executive director of the group Los Angeles Waterkeeper.<\/p>\n
The coalition includes fishing groups, environmental organizations and Northern California\u2019s Winnemem Wintu Tribe.<\/p>\n
Its plan<\/a> calls for a \u201cnew urban water renaissance\u201d in California that prioritizes local water. This approach would reliably yield more and cost far less than Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s proposed Delta Conveyance Project<\/a> beneath the Delta.<\/p>\n The state estimated in 2024 the tunnel would cost $20.1 billion, but opponents say it could cost three to five times more.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal water is reliable, it\u2019s more affordable, and it\u2019s more flexible, so that we\u2019re not committing California ratepayers to higher bills that they don\u2019t need,\u201d said Kyle Jones, a water expert and consultant who helped prepare the plan for the coalition. <\/p>\n Southern California imports about half of its water from other regions.<\/p>\n The coalition\u2019s plan says the region can secure up to 2 million acre-feet of local water per year. It estimates the costs of more conservation and efficiency, more stormwater and groundwater cleaning, and more water recycling at $44 billion over two decades. The Delta tunnel, in contrast, could cost $60 billion to $100 billion,<\/a> it says.<\/p>\n Whether the tunnel project is ultimately built may hinge on whether large water agencies, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, decide to participate and pay for it.<\/p>\n 1 <\/p>\n 2 <\/p>\n 3 <\/p>\n 1. Cranes rise above the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys. 2. When completed, Los Angeles will nearly double recycled water for 500,000 residents. 3. Storage tanks sit behind a fence before being placed in the ground at the plant. (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times) <\/p>\n \u201cMetropolitan Water District really does have a significant choice on it, that not just impacts their ratepayers but impacts every single person in the state,\u201d said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the group Restore the Delta. \u201cAre we going to spend $20, $60, maybe upward to $100 million on a tunnel? Or are we going to invest significant money in local solutions that provide water resiliency and sustainability for everyone in California? That is what is at stake right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The Metropolitan Water District already is planning<\/a> a large new facility<\/a> in Carson to transform wastewater into purified drinking water. Los Angeles and San Diego are also building water recycling plants<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, water imported from the northern Sierra and the Colorado River provides the foundation of water supply reliability for Southern California,\u201d said Shivaji Deshmukh, the MWD\u2019s general manager. <\/p>\n He noted that the MWD invests in water efficiency and capturing stormwater, and has helped reduce per-person water use by more than 40% since 1990.<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s 38-member board last year adopted a climate adaptation strategy<\/a> that sets goals for lining up additional water.<\/p>\n Los Angeles<\/a> city leaders and L.A. County<\/a> supervisors have also set goals for becoming more locally self-sufficient.<\/p>\n The advocates who wrote the policy plan said these efforts should accelerate and expand. They pointed out that the Colorado River\u2019s reservoirs are falling to perilously low levels<\/a>, and native fish in the Delta are in decline as the pumping of water takes an ecological toll<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cClimate change is exacerbating the challenges in those ecosystems, meaning that less and less water will be available to import,\u201d said Ashley Overhouse, water policy advisor for the group Defenders of Wildlife. \u201cAll the while, the cost of water is continuing to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n About 20 other environmental groups endorsed the coalition\u2019s strategy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have got to do a better job in the next 100 years than we did in the last 100 years, if we truly want to create a place of abundance once again,\u201d said Frankie Myers, a member of the Yurok Tribe in Northern California. \u201cThis idea that we can steal \u2026 and divert water however we want with no consequences has got to end.\u201d<\/p>\n Construction continues at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys in October 2025.<\/p>\n (Eric Thayer \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n![\"Cranes](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1779704769_506_.jpeg\")
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