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Delta is worth saving, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 28, 2008 at 7:39 am

From the Contra Costa County Times, this editorial:

The Delta is one of the great resources in California from an environmental beauty to a key source of the state’s water supply. But the region is struggling and the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force is exploring how the state can ensure the future health of the Delta while providing a reliable long-term water supply.

Yes, we’re talking about quite a tightrope to walk, but this is definitely an area that needs to be explored now, a daring long-term plan put in place and implemented soon before Mother Nature and a population explosion collide in the Golden State. We detailed some short-term steps that are needed in Sunday’s Times, but this group should be giving us some longer-term answers.

The initial plan from the task force takes a steady equitable course as the environment and the Delta’s water supply are given equal treatment. The task force addressed a sort of rebuilding of the Delta in three key areas — improving the ecosystem, build a canal or pipeline to move drinking and irrigation water around the Delta, and strengthen the region’s levees.

None of this will be cheap. The task force estimated the cost between $12 billion and $24 billion over the next 10 to 15 years alone and costs could run as high as $80 billion. Based on previous state estimates of construction projects we think $80 billion could be a conservative figure. But we have to start somewhere.

Read the full text of this editorial from the Contra Costa County Times by clicking here.

June 28, 2008 · Filed Under Other Delta Issues, Water Legislation

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