Harnessing the delta: Bypass system (peripheral canal) would yield water, protect species

From the Riverside Press-Enterprise, this commentary by Thomas Wagoner, general manager of Lake Hemet Municipal Water District:

California faces a statewide drinking water shortage and its antiquated water collection and delivery system is in need of billions of dollars worth of improvements. Water shortages have already prompted water districts and agencies to tighten belts, impose tiered rate structures and press customers to embrace conservation measures.

No one argues with the need to use water wisely. Buy why not fix the infrastructure problems that make Californians vulnerable to fluctuations in weather patterns or to the availability of water from the Colorado River or the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta? This single theme is where Californians vitally need political leadership.

In the old days, groundwater and runoff from the melting Sierra Nevada snowpack was in plentiful supply. We also were able to import more than our legal share of water from the Colorado River, partly because Nevada and Arizona didn’t use their full entitlements. It’s a different story today. Groundwater basins in western Riverside County and in many other areas of California have been overpumped and need refilling.

An even more serious problem is looming in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which supplies water to 25 million Californians, including residents of western Riverside County. A federal judge has ordered a 30 percent cutback in the pumping of water from the delta to protect the delta smelt, one of several species of fish that are believed to be at risk due to falling water levels, not to mention water flow patterns that kill them by leading them directly into water pumps.

Read more of this commentary by clicking here.

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