This is just one post in the Delta Issues Category

“It’s our water”: Delta Vision report ignites old North-South animosity for some

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on February 4, 2008 at 2:02 pm

From the Vacaville Reporter, this commentary regarding the Delta Vision Task Force’s report:

… Southern California’s population continues to grow, and so do its needs.

Needless to say when the Tracy pumps were shut down, the governor decided the Delta Vision team need to look into the matter.

The task force’s report said California needs to collect more water during wet years and hold onto it down in Southern California. It also talks about building a better “linkage” between the source (the Delta) and the storage (some place down south). It sure sounds like a concept that almost split this state in half a few years back: The Peripheral Canal.

The task force did everything to avoid calling it that.

Solano County residents always get a little skittish when someone mentions “Peripheral Canal.” In the late ’70s, when Northern California was in the middle of a major drought, Solano County residents were told to ration their water, while Southern California residents didn’t have to. In fact, Southern California called on its political influence to keep the Tracy pumps shipping fresh water south because it said farmers and residents in the south needed their water, too. As a result, ocean water began seeping deeper into the Delta, and area farmers found salt water leaching into their water supplies.

The relationship between the north and south soured when Northern California residents, using water restrictors in their showers, putting bricks in their toilet tanks to reduce water and watching their landscaped yards die because for lack of water, would turn on their televisions and see a Malibu resident hosing down his driveway with the very water denied to Northern California residents.

The battle became so heated, there was even talk about splitting the state in half.

The writer of this commentary, a long-time resident of Solano County, sees many issues and concerns of local residents that the Delta Vision fails to address. To read the the rest of this commentary from the Vacaville Reporter, click here.

February 4, 2008 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Delta Vision Task Force