From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Column: Delta water fight starts in SoCal

Coalition response…Without a reliable supply of water flowing to California farms the locally grown food supply that consumers expect in their grocery stores could be threatened. If water supplies continue to be reduced to San Joaquin Valley farmers as in recent years because of federal regulations to protect fish in the Delta, less farmland will be planted and consumers may have fewer choices.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan and its proposed tunnels are designed to provide a reliable water supply that is important to farmers. That is part of the reasoning that farmers and water agencies have already paid more than $140 million to develop the Plan. They recognize the importance of keeping water flowing that they already have a right to receive and are paying the costs to deliver it.

The Plan will also restore the ecosystem of the Delta and increase the habitat for fish and wildlife. This added habitat will not only provide a food supply for fish but also protection from predator fish.

The Plan and its proposed tunnels are vastly different than the 1992 Peripheral Canal. The capacity of the tunnels is only 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), compared to 21,800 cfs for the Peripheral Canal. The Plan also provides flexibility to maintain in-Delta water quality with through-Delta operations while the Peripheral Canal was fully isolated with no through-Delta operations. Learn more at https://farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf.

Recommended Posts