To accomplish what needs to be done with the Delta, new water storage is required.
New water plan a good first step
Contra Costa Times
Article Launched: 11/25/2007 03:00:53 AM PST
THE LATEST PROPOSAL to save the Delta ecosystem and deliver dependable supplies of fresh water to users offers some promising ideas on the control and financing of water. It also has the advantage of tentative support of large water users and biologists. But it also appears to be missing a major essential element -- storage.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan would change the way much of California's water is managed. It would set ground rules for how water will be delivered and how the Delta environment would be protected for the next half century.
The conservation plan seeks to replace the current permit system. Water users would pay for new infrastructure, wetlands restoration and other related projects in return for guaranteed stable water supplies.
Certainly, users should pay the full price for water supplies and delivery systems. However, part of the infrastructure called for by the conservation plan is a controversial aqueduct around the Delta.
This is a smaller version of the Peripheral Canal, which was defeated by voters in 1982. But unlike the 1982 canal, this one would be controlled in conjunction with the existing federal and state intakes near Tracy.
A canal by itself is not workable because it would not be able to take more water without violating environmental standards in the Delta…
It has been nearly three decades since a major new reservoir was built. In the meantime California has grown by 15 million people.
More efficient use of water and less water-intensive agriculture have served the state well. But there are limits to such measures, especially if we experience another drought and add a half million people a year to the state's population.
If sufficient water supplies are to be guaranteed for agriculture, urban users and the Delta environment, at least one major new reservoir will be needed. Without new storage, farmers are not likely to have sufficient supplies in dry years.
