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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) has released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the California Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) Delta Conveyance Project (i.e., the “Delta tunnel” or project) for public review and comment. The deadline for comment has been extended to March 16, 2023, at the request of the Commission and others. The DEIS describes alternative ways to construct the tunnel, the alternatives’ environmental effects, and measures to mitigate adverse effects. The Corps has posted the DEIS on its website. Copies of the DEIS can be found in libraries if you don’t have good access to internet.
The DEIS is important because it creates a factual record that will be used in the Delta tunnel’s review by federal agencies and others. The Corps, which is considering several permits for the project, is the lead agency for the DEIS. Comments on the DEIS can correct errors in the Corps’ understanding of the project’s effects, suggest additional mitigation measures to reduce damage in the Delta, or express a preference among the project alternatives, including a “no action” alternative.
The DEIS discusses cultural and historic resources on pages 3.7-1 to 3.7-13. Federal law and guidelines protect the confidentiality of information about specific archaeological, cultural, and historic resources. Thus, the DEIS only provides a summary of these resources and the project’s impacts on them.
The DEIS identifies 31 cultural and historic resources within the proposed “area of impact” which extends a quarter mile around the project footprint. Within this area, it reports that nine of these historic resources will be altered by the project construction and 22 will be affected by vibration, noise, degradation of surrounding scenery, or other changes in their setting. Archaeological sites will also be affected. These impacts will be significant, despite proposed mitigation measures. The DEIS acknowledges that complete information on many historical resources has yet to be gathered.
The DEIS’ assessment of these impacts relies heavily on information from DWR’s draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Delta tunnel. If you commented on the DEIR’s treatment of cultural and historic resources, providing the same comments to the Corps will trigger their consideration by federal agencies. If you want to dig more deeply into the DEIR’s assessment of impacts to cultural resources, look at the tips in our September 2022 Section 106 newsletter.
Your comments on the DEIS’s treatment of cultural and historic resources can make a difference. Delta people are experts about Delta history and its important cultural resources. Comments on the DEIS should be sent to the following email address: DLL-DCP-EIS@usace.army.mil.
The Victory Highway, an early cross country highway, followed the Sacramento River through the Delta along the present route of CA 160. To honor World War I servicemen, this monument was erected near the bridge across the San Joaquin River in Antioch.
Commission DEIR Comments Stress Protection of Historic Resources
In December, the Commission submitted comments on the Delta tunnel DEIR. In our letter, the Commission stated that the DEIR’s assessment of impacts to cultural and historic resources was deficient. Among the shortcomings pointed out in the Commission’s comments were:
- Failing to treat the Delta as a culturally significant rural historic landscape, but rather focusing only on built historic structures.
- Restricting the assessment of impacts to cultural resources to sites only within the project footprint without assessing damage to these resources’ setting and integrity from project-generated noise, scenic degradation, and glare originating further away.
- Inadequately consulting with local groups and experts, including historical societies and representatives of local cultural groups.
- Ignoring many sites or areas that may qualify as rural historic districts or historic sites, including:
- Sacramento River
- Sacramento Southern Railroad
- Victory Highway/Highway 160
- Pierson District
- The “40-mile” Orchard
- Hood
- Terminous Tract
- Roberts Island
- Jones Tract
- Bacon Island
- Union Island
- Byron Tract
You can review the Commission’s comment letter on the Delta Tunnel DEIR on our website.
The Sacramento Southern Railroad’s Netherlands Route included a stop in Hood
Is Hood a Historic District?
The north Delta community of Hood is ground zero for the Delta tunnel. The village of nearly 300 residents is located on the Sacramento River and Highway 160 between Freeport and Courtland. The Delta tunnel’s two diversions, their sediment basins, and a tunnel inlet would be constructed just north and south of the town. Noise, traffic, and other disruptions will disturb the community for much of the projected 13-year tunnel construction. Mitigation measures can reduce some impacts, but effects will still be significant. Some properties may be abandoned, and the DEIR forecasts some residents may relocate.
Hood provides an example of the qualities of a site that could be addressed by the National Historic Preservation Act’s (NHPA) Section 106. The town is typical of the small riverside communities that developed to serve agriculture and transportation and that help define the character of the Delta.
It began in 1860 as a terminal from which local growers shipped grain and later fruit and other produce downriver. The community was named in 1909 by William Hood, Southern Pacific’s Chief Construction Engineer, who saw a future as the newly built Sacramento Southern Railroad reached the town. A train depot was built in Hood on a spur from the Sacramento Southern mainline to the wharf where a new packing shed was constructed to serve fruit producers. The railroad partnered with businessman Madison Barnes, whose Hood Improvement Company developed a residential community adjacent to the new shipping facilities. A hotel, hardware store, grocery, church, and post office operated in the town.
In 1921, the River Road from Sacramento to Antioch, now CA 160, was incorporated into the Victory Highway, an early transcontinental auto route. Beginning in World War II, a cadre of agricultural workers, including Mexican Americans and Mexican guest workers in the bracero program, and their families settled in Hood.
There are multiple historic properties in Hood near the intersection of Hood-Franklin Road and CA 160:
- River Road Exchange: The River Road Exchange was originally home to a bustling waterfront fruit shipping and processing facility. Currently, its renovated space hosts the Willow Ballroom.
- Hood Supply Company: The Hood Supply Co., a restaurant and bar, occupies a building that was originally a combination gas station, soda fountain, and mercantile store serving travelers on the Victory Highway.
- Hood Post Office The current building is the second to house Hood’s post office. Its furnishings were relocated from its predecessor.
- Delta Bait and Tackle. This commercial building is a local example of early 20th century commercial architecture.
- Barnes House. This large home, with elaborate garden landscaping, was the home of a son of Hood’s developer Madison Barnes.
- Second Street houses. This residence, like its neighbor, is typical of early wood frame homes built for railroad workers.
- Casitas. The small homes on Third Street provided affordable housing for railroad and farm workers. Similar homes scattered through Hood have simple expansions added as families grew and their finances allowed. They are prototypes for today’s “tiny homes”.
The NHPA requires consideration of these historic resources and measures to avoid, minimize, or mitigate damage to them.
What Can I Do to Help Protect the Delta’s Historical Resources from Damage if the Delta Tunnel is Approved?
The involvement of people who care about the Delta’s cultural and historic resources is key to protecting these assets. The DEIS is an important step in the review of the Delta tunnel. In addition to commenting, please share this newsletter with others whose comments could help identify historical resources affected by the Delta tunnel, or identify measures to avoid or reduce damage to historical resources.
There will be more opportunities to comment on the project in the future. You can take a next step by sharing this newsletter with Delta historians, community groups, and others who are knowledgeable about Delta history and care about our region’s future. They can add themselves to this newsletter’s distribution list by signing up online.
For More Information
Read Volume #1 Protecting the Delta from DWR’s Proposed Tunnel with the National Historic Preservation Act, Volume #2 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Proposes Agreement on Program for Protecting Historic Properties, Volume #3 DWR Delta Conveyance EIR Provides First Opportunity to Protect Historic Properties
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