California must act to rescue a delta in severe distress
Share this pageGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers have nothing to show from last year’s special legislative session on water strategy for California. But there’s one challenge that cannot be put off any longer: fixing the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The delta is the hub of the state’s water system, supplying water to two out of three Californians and irrigating much of the state’s farmland. Santa Clara County gets half its water supply from the estuary.
Yet the delta is on the verge of ecological and physical collapse. Human population growth and the effects of climate change will only increase the pressure on it in the next decade. This critical natural and economic resource for the entire state must be restored, even if Sacramento can’t agree on a broader statewide water plan.
Signs of distress in the delta are everywhere. A report last week showed severe depletion of several fish species. Last year, a judge ordered cutbacks in pumping from the delta to protect the endangered delta smelt. The order was implemented in December and could cut water deliveries to some users as much as 30 percent this year.
This ecological stress is in addition to ongoing threats of levee failures, sinking lands and other issues.
Full editorial on the website of the San Jose Mercury News