Next Steps Loom for Del Puerto Canyon Dam
EIR published and certification hearing scheduled.
Photo by Save Mt. Diablo
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later: The Del Puerto Water District was going to issue its final environmental impact report (FEIR) on its proposed Del Puerto Canyon Dam sooner or later. Sooner it was.
To be precise, the District issued its FEIR for its partially recirculated EIR on Friday, August 7, 2026. It has scheduled a public hearing on the FEIR, where it will also consider certifying the EIR (i.e., finalizing it) at the District’s office at 17840 Ward Avenue, Patterson, California 95863 at 9 a.m. on August 19. Stay tuned here, at the “Save Del Puerto Canyon” Facebook page, or “Save Mt. Diablo” for more information.
The dam would hold federal Central Valley Project water pumped from the Delta within a new 82,000 acre-foot $750-million reservoir nestled within the foothills of the San Joaquin Valley’s west side (the District is a member of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, along with the giant Westlands Water District and the politically influential Santa Clara Valley Water District).
Last December FOR offered comments on the draft EIR and environmental impact statement (EIS) for this project(1). We didn’t expect much from the District. There’s little diversity on their board of directors. It is less clear what we expect from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation).
Still to be accomplished is an EIR on the relocation of the road that would be forced by constructing the proposed reservoir; the federal FEIS; and a water rights proceeding if the Reclamation actually agrees to the use of its water. (Assuming, of course, that the United States also agrees to follow state and federal law making it subject to California’s water rights procedures. The United States may attempt to circumvent such legal niceties).
Both the District and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors (the latter, the major aspiring beneficiary of the project) punch above their weight. They invest heavily in government relations, and so far, it seems to be paying off for them.
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