1) The trouble with this proposed water regulation plan, is that while everyone can agree that all natural resources need to have some sort of regulation built around their use, there also needs to be a corresponding plan to acquire more of the natural resource, if possible.
2) In this case, there are certainly ways to enlarge our water supply during wet years to be more prepared for the dry ones.
Along with the obvious solution for our area, the building of Auburn Dam, still supported by groups—including us—like the Auburn Dam Council, there is another that would solve the water problems for the larger region and that is the raising of Shasta Dam to its originally engineered height of 200 feet higher than it now is, tripling its water supply, which this 2004 article from the Sacramento Bee describes.
The cost for these two projects is probably in the $20 Billion range, a relatively low price to pay for the extra water, hydroelectric power, Parkway sustainability(from Auburn Dam) and extra flood protection.
3) Fish hatcheries have long been a good method to protect fish that need help due to the development of technologies to increase the human use of the water flowing from their aquatic habitat, and it would make sense that it could also be of good use in relation to the Delta smelt this editorial addresses.
It is certainly something deserving of consideration and research.
