Rice May Save Sinking Delta
Compiled By Staff
April 8, 2008
The Department of Water Resources has announced plans to fund a rice cultivation project that could stop, or even reverse, sinking land in the Delta.
Studies show that rice farming has the potential to stop, and possibly reverse the sinking of land (subsidence) as well as to store carbon as organic matter. Economic benefits to the local area through commercial rice farming will also be part of the evaluation. The project will be made possible via Proposition 84 flood control activity funds.
Local public agencies meeting the criteria defined in California Water Code Section 12311(a) are invited to apply for the funding. A Proposal Solicitation Package is available online at: www.dfm.water.ca.gov/dsmo/docs/Final_Draft_PSP_Rice.pdf
The minimum size of the rice growing plot is 300 acres and the required average depth of peat underlying the site is seven feet. It is the department's intent to have one funding recipient for a multi-year project lasting up to eight years.
For more than 100 years, as West Delta islands have been reclaimed and farmed, the land (which is primarily comprised of peat) has been disappearing, or "subsiding," because of oxidation and strong winds. The elevation of some islands has been reduced more than 25 feet and the land continues to "sink" by one-half inch to one inch per year. As the land subsides, more hydraulic pressure is exerted on the levees, increasing the risk for levee failure. Millions of dollars are spent every year maintaining these levee systems to protect the islands from flooding.
A public meeting has been scheduled to discuss the PSP with potential applicants at the following time and location: April 10, 2008, 10 a.m. – Noon, Walnut Grove Public Library, 14177 Market St., Walnut Grove.
