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

Delta tunnel project truly can drain north state 

Coalition response…Attempting to characterize the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as a means of draining the north state is utterly baseless. The misguided claim that BDCP will drain the Sacramento Valley and the Delta ignores the operational guidelines that protect these regions. The amount of water that the project could move is based on what river conditions would allow; sometimes more and sometimes less. Visit https://farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf to learn more about exports. 

The author also claims that existing pumping restrictions are insufficient to protect endangered fish but she never mentions the lack of habitat in the Delta or the poor conditions in the ocean, which the National Marine Fisheries Service has identified as the leading cause for the dwindling salmon numbers. Add the high numbers of juvenile salmon taken by predators and a more complete picture is presented on factors affecting salmon. The predator problem is significant, especially when one realizes that a recent study (www.farmwater.org/93percentsalmon6-5.pdf) revealed that 93% of the juvenile smolts in the Tuolumne River, that make their way to the Delta via the San Joaquin River, are eaten by predatory fish. That’s not healthy for any species regardless of the circumstances.