This Bay Delta Conservation Plan process, boring as it sounds (and mostly is) is worth paying attention to, becasue it's SUPPOSED to include beefing up the deteriorating Delta levees, which could collapse in an earthquake or flood, cutting off much of the water supply for Southern California. Delta plan gets a nod from federal governmentBay-Delta Conservation Plan now in the hands of Brown administration Posted: 12/15/2010 05:00:12 PM PST Updated: 12/16/2010 06:28:58 AM PST The Obama administration said Wednesday that it supports plans to build a new aqueduct to deliver Sacramento River water to the south, marking the first time the federal government has endorsed a proposal that has simmered in California for decades. However, federal officials stopped short of endorsing a massive set of intakes and tunnels that state officials want to build. With support fraying for an ambitious Delta water supply and ecosystem restoration plan, state and federal officials issued a pair of reports Wednesday intended to shore up support for the beleaguered Bay-Delta Conservation Plan. "This is the last best hope to deal with these issues in the San Francisco Bay-Delta," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said. "This is the only game in town." The state report, issued by the Resources Agency, calls for five intakes and two huge tunnels to carry Sacramento River water from the north Delta to south Delta pumps, a project that is estimated to cost $13 billion. The tunnels would replace earlier plans to build a peripheral canal around the Delta, a plan that was rejected by voters in 1982 after it was authorized by once and future Gov. Jerry Brown. The federal report, issued by six federal water supply and environmental regulatory agencies, was less specific and more cautious in assessing what the plan could deliver. However, it said a new water delivery system would help stabilize water supplies and restore the failing More: |
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