A Look at the Delta through the years and the latest attempt to mess with Mother Nature or Revise the Delta!

Welcome to

(i.e. what the government wants to do with the Delta & why all Californians should OPPOSE the current plans)

Once the Central Canal is completed, the Delta will be split East and West, and the West side of the Central Conveyance will become more salty over time.

     The facts are that from 2001 to 2005 various legal processes were completed so that "in Delta Storage islands" (IDS) and the central canal plan could move forward with or without voter approved funding, since Metropolitan Water District and Westlands Water District could put up funding for the conveyance part of the project.    In bits and pieces they put together the building blocks for the Central Canal, and will now move forward with the "near term actions".  The 2 gates are a necessary ingredient of the overall central canal.  The two temporary gates will most likely lead to at least four permanent gates, as the rest of the Central Canal sections are completed, in the author's opinion.  Click on the map to the right for enlarged version, or go to the  2 to 4 Gates Project maps update which shows many other maps and concepts. 

The summary map below was compiled from EIR/EIS maps and reports from 2001 to 2005, combining several sources, each of which indicate permanent barrier gates will be needed to keep fresh Sacramento River flowing to Clifton Court Forebay. 

click on picture above for 4-minute video about Delta people, but come back to see more planning maps here!
The Federal Government's Delta Water Work Plan:  12/22/09 

Delta counties hope the Feds will stop this latest California liquid gold rush, but the Feds have been involved all along, helping fund and provide oversight of the Central Canal building blocks already in place!

Go to the Planning Maps pages to get a visual idea of the complexity of the proposals.  The maps showing here on this page can be clicked on for larger view.  The map to the right shows the "central conveyance" canal which is a near term project so they will build that or connect the existing rivers, sloughs and canals in the next 1-3 years (personal opinion)>  The 4 gates are needed to direct Sacramento River water down to the suction pumps to send the water elsewhere. 

Interesting UC Berkeley seminar...skip past introductions if you want
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXhZZwtSrLk

Learn how the DRMS is WRONG regarding certain Delta islands and flood history

Link to a US Fish & Wildlife Service study report about how boat launches in the Delta disturb the salmon  USFWS launch study

There's also an interesting series of maps developed 2004-2006 showing the concept of the SoCal water districts to very quickly do a "Eco-crescent central canal" in the Delta, using gates to stop possible salt water intrusion if islands to the west happen to fail in a flood or seismic event.  In this map the "two gates" project seems more like a "5 gates" project.  Compare maps  This type of canal would split the Delta in half, east and west, and lands to the west of the central canal would be encroached by salt water, lands to the east would still have the fresh water of the Sacramento River.  So it seems the folks at Bethel Island and DiscoBay do have valid reason to voice their concerns!  Go to the 2006 documents.  The 2006 UC Berkeley Colloquium on Water talked about a "Delta Central Park" concept or a "Delta National Park" also.  You can go to Youtube to see those interesting lectures. 

     Historically, the state has come close to doing a major water project, then "couldn't find the funding" and the feds stepped in and "saved the day".  Californians then were happy because their perception was that someone else was paying for California benefit (ignoring its our own federal tax dollars that fund the fed projects) and since the federal legislators were for the project the EPA-types and other environmentalists or opposition of those bygone days backed off somewhat.   For example, part of the "Project Levees" were built/paid for in part by "New Deal" Federal Funds when the state legislators of that time agreed they wanted to improve the levees but couldn't find the funds.  Our prediction for the last few months:  We would not be surprised if a "big name" from Washington DC came to California to "save the day" so that infrastructure monies can flow into California like water through the aqueduct after a rainy winter!  That would make many Californians happy, but would in effect take away the land rights of the Delta landowner.  (Since this prediction was made in August 2009, the Feds have clearly gotten involved & Senator Feinstein is working on the "biggest bill" of her career as of October 14, 2009)

     Then, as now, the state may pay for levee improvements to protect STATE interests, like avoiding flooding in Sacramento area and stopping salt water intrusion into the Delta so that the water will be good enough for transport to other areas of California.

A short history of California's water wars from the perspective of a Delta landowner:

     In the 1850's to 1900's the state sold lands owned in the Delta area to individuals who wanted to reclaim land for farming and other beneficial uses.  People purchased their lands and built up the existing natural levees to protect against floods.  In the meantime, refuse from the gold mines washed downstream in the winter months, literally filling up some of the formerly naturally deep waterways with silt and mining muck.  The "Middle Fork" of the Sacramento River, a naturally deep passage for boats traveling from San Francisco to Sacramento, later renamed Steamboat Slough, is an example.  By 1880's this river was not useable in low tides due to all the silting.  In the 1910's and thereafter, the Federal government agreed with California state politicians that protecting some levees and waterways in the Delta were important to assure flood protection for Sacramento area, and also to assure fresh water supply through the Delta.  Hence using some of the "New Deal" infrastructure monies, certain levees were improved and thereafter labeled "project levees".  The Federal government also built the first of two main water channels or aqueducts to carry some of the water from the Delta down to the growing SoCal cities, especially Los Angeles.  Later, California decided to do another water project, so that more water could be taken from the Delta to send to barren lands of the Central Valley, like Fresno and Kern counties.  The farmers on the east side of the Central Valley had primary water rights because their water had been taken from the San Joaquin River where they riparian water rights.  The farmers on the west side of the Central Valley, however, had to contract for water, and their contracts allowed them water ONLY when there was enough water in the Delta to ship out.  Their water rights are called secondary and in low rain years they might not get the water allotment they had contracted for.  The Westland Water District was formed to protect the water contract rights of these farmers, and to work with the state to find more consistent sources of water for the Central Valley farmers on the west side of the valley.

     In the 1960's the State of California water wonks came up with an idea for a California-built canal that would go around the Delta, taking the fresh Sacramento water to the then-new California aqueduct to send it on down south.  1965 Map.  It didn't get built because folks thought it was a bad idea to mess with the wonderful Delta.  In 1980 the same "peripheral canal" idea was put to a vote of the people of the state and again it was turned down as a bad idea.  Starting in 2003 and earlier, a group of mostly SoCal large land owners started pushing for the idea again and the current governor allowed millions in state funds to be used for studies to validate why NOW would be a better time to build that same canal that was considered a bad idea before.  This time they call it "Dual Conveyance".

     We've been gathering more documents, most in pdf format, so our viewers can open and read the documents.  It appears about One Billion Dollars of the California deficit must have been spent on all these reports, studies, proposals and meetings.  So what is all this Delta talk about anyway?  ...  Simply stated, the drinking water of the state is taken mostly from the San Joaquin River and so much water is being taken out that the salt water from the San Francisco Bay is merging with the fresh water, which makes it to salty for drinking and farming without extra filtering or treatment.  So instead, some state agencies want to take the water out of the Sacramento River.  Sounds simple, but it isn't.  By taking more water out of the Sacramento River, the very productive Delta islands around the lower Sacramento River will potentially be ruined by the extra salt water that will infiltrate the Sacramento River.  There's also the complications of various fish species failing to thrive due to the water suction pumps, which suck up and kill the fish. 

     More to come...

Delta Vision

pending laws

SB 4 (SB 458 Content) by Senator Wolk to revise provision of the Delta Protection Act and create the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy

1.27.09_HO_Draft_BDCP_Governance_Structure.pdf
BDCP Notice of EIR/EIS- 2/13/09

1.30.09_BDCP_IT-ND_Diversion_Effects_Presendation.pdf

2.13.09_SC_mtg_HO_Restoration_Recommendations.pdf

12 page summary

Restoration Plans

Ecosystem Restoration Project List and Descriptions for the Delta

2009dpcWorkbook_A_DPC_MPU.pdf
DPCMPU_ProgressReport_v2df.pdf
2008recreation_plan.pdf