Conservation Groups Challenge California Water Diversion Project

A coalition of conservation groups on Monday sued the California Department of Water Resources challenging its approval of two 35-mile long tunnels that will divert water from the Sacramento River and a San Francisco area delta to Southern California. Filed in Sacramento County state court, the lawsuit said the so-called Delta tunnels project will significantly degrade the environment in an estuary east of San Francisco known as the bay-delta region and hurt the delta’s farming economy.