Some things still work as well now as thousands of years ago and one of those is the damming of rivers to reduce flood risk, create lakes which store water and create additional recreational venues.
Adding 21st century technology to these old ways of water storage create additional power sources, stronger building materials and techniques, and greater geological safety.
A very good thing all around.
Editorial: Whoa! Stop the rush on governor's water plans
At this point, his ideas for new dams are sketchy and won't help troubled Delta
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, September 14, 2007
Up until a few weeks ago, it appeared that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to spend $5.9 billion on water projects was going nowhere. But then a federal judge cut back water pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, giving the governor a new peg on which to hang his dam-building hat.
Tuesday, Schwarzenegger called a special session that will focus partly on water. Yet that doesn't mean we'll see thoughtful deliberations on this most complex of issues. Lawmakers have plans for travel junkets, so Senate leader Don Perata wants to strike a water deal by Wednesday. Otherwise they might find it difficult to make a Sept. 27 deadline for placing a bond issue on the February ballot.
Clearly, the situation in the Delta should prompt some urgency. Its levees are vulnerable to earthquakes. Rising sea levels threaten to salinate the drinking water for 25 million people. More immediately, the ruling by Judge Oliver Wanger could mean a 12 percent to 37 percent reduction in water exports from the Delta.
The problem, however, is the governor's plans for new reservoirs do little to help the Delta, and could prove to be a wasteful investment. Democratic leaders seem to realize these risks. Yet they also need the governor's support for a modification of term limits on the next ballot. So there's a chance they may try to appease the governor by agreeing to spend vast sums on some of his half-baked projects….
…There may be a need for future surface storage of water, but Schwarzenegger hasn't come close to making a case for these projects. Indeed, it's surprising that a governor with such an innovative record of tackling climate change still focuses only on 19th-century tools for solving the state's water woes.
