Lois Kazakoff: Water decision favors the delta
Lois Kazakoff
San Francisco Chronicle
08/03/2010
After more than 20 years of scientific and legal debate over how much water the state should export from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the state sided with -- the delta.
In a historic vote Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board adopted the recommendations in a report ordered by the Legislature last year. "The board's action acknowledges that diverting 50 percent of the delta's freshwaterflow is not sustainable, and that substantially more water is needed to maintain the health of the delta estuary," said Cynthia Koehler, California water legislative director for the Environmental Defense Fund.
State water managers and scientists came to the same conclusion decades ago, but water politics stymied any action. Over the years, delta exports climbed while the health of the estuary declined, and with it the salmon runs that sustained the state fishing industry.
