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Delta conservation group gathers community input on Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 1, 2008 at 6:14 am

From the Chico Enterprise-Record:

As state water officials are declaring the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta broken, plans are in the work for a comprehensive conservation plan for the area.

A meeting in Chico Tuesday night was held to gather early input from Northern California residents on the environmental impact work for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

A recent federal court decision will cut water supplies from the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project by up to a third to protect fish. A dry spring has areas south of the delta asking residents to conserve water and using water use strategies such as limiting outdoor irrigation. Locally, Lake Oroville is expected to be so low this year, that plans are in the works to extend boat launch ramps so that boaters can still access the water.

The state has long been looking at the Delta and trying to make long-term plans for the system, which provides water to two-thirds of the state through its intricate system of tributaries, estuary and pumping facilities. Meanwhile, fish populations have plummeted, levees are vulnerable to earthquakes and a future with climate changes needs to be considered.

A conservation plan for the delta plays into the “Delta Vision” process, which resulted in recommendations last year including an alternative conveyance system and protection of species, along with providing water supply reliability.

At the Tuesday meeting in Chico, Carl Wilcox of Fish and Game explained the issues of helping endangered and threatened species and statewide water supply were “co-equal objectives” within the Delta Conservation Plan.