Delta conservation plan is essential for California
Jeffrey Kightlinger
Daily News
08/23/2011
California's most challenging water problem is approaching a historic solution ... an opportunity for critically important and essential improvements to the state's water system. The key in the coming months is to maintain the fresh momentum that is behind the state and federal planning process.
The challenge is in Northern California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
This watershed, including all the rivers that flow westward from the Sierra Nevada, provides drinking water for 96 percent of the state's residents. No single water source is as important for the environment and the state economy. But mounting environmental problems threaten the delta and the reliability of water supplies.
The delta is akin to a patient with multiple chronic illnesses, none of which can be ignored. Ninety-five percent of the original wetlands have been erased by 1,100 miles of levees. If key stretches of levees were to fail in an earthquake, salt water could rush in from the San Francisco Bay and turn the delta into an undrinkable source of supply for an extended period of time. Also, 95 percent of all living plants and fishes are non-native and various human activities, from wastewater discharges to water diversions, pose stresses as well.
Water districts that rely on the state's two largest water projects, the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, will play a key role in the solution. They are on the front lines to provide the water to sustain 25 million Californians and millions of acres of agriculture that help feed the nation. For Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District is an important player because it imports water from Northern California to serve a six-county service area stretching from Ventura and Los Angeles to San Diego counties.
The Legislature has to continue providing the political direction. Six state and federal agencies that operate the two water projects, or regulate them, have to agree to a plan. And the water districts that rely on these projects have to provide the funds to put key portions of the plan into action.
The pieces are falling into place. The Legislature in 2009 passed a historic package of water legislation providing clear direction to the government agencies. Those agencies are now crafting a 50-year strategy of water system and ecosystem improvements through a process known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Metropolitan and the other participating water districts are committing to spending close to a quarter billion dollars to underwrite this planning process if it stays on track and meets its deadlines. And the districts are committed to paying for the necessary delta conveyance improvements to protect this water supply on a long-term basis from seismic threats and sea level rise in a manner that protects the delta environment as well.
