Contra Costa Times reporter Mike Taugher dove into the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in an interesting story that ran over the weekend. The reporter got his hands on a report that spells out the short-term plans for the delta, which helps funnel Sierra Nevada snow melt to Southern California.
Taugher writes:
Rising from the wreckage of California’s water policy is an emerging consensus that calls on water officials to immediately try a novel way of moving water through the Delta while embarking on a new round of studies to evaluate the possibility of building a controversial aqueduct.
For years, many of the 43 members of an obscure water panel, the Delta Vision Stakeholder Coordination Group, have been bitter adversaries in the state’s water wars.
But prodded by a series of troubling developments, including a dramatic decline in fish populations and recent water supply disruptions, they have come to a remarkable degree of agreement. … The group will suggest an experiment in which temporary rock dams would separate water supplies from more environmentally sensitive channels, thereby protecting some fish habitat. It also will propose moving forward with studies to determine the feasibility of building an aqueduct around the Delta.
Our most recent story on the delta examined the environmental crisis and proposed water supply cutbacks that have helped put the state’s focus on the fragile water supply.