A team of UC Davis researchers today is recommending that a peripheral canal is the best solution to restore the Delta environment and protect the fresh water that moves through it to millions of people and business in California.
California voters rejected a peripheral canal in 1982, amid opposition from some scientists and environmental groups who feared it would deprive the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of critical freshwater flows.
But times have changed. Worsening environmental conditions in the estuary have resulted in court-imposed cutbacks in Delta water exports. And new understanding about threats from climate change, floods and earthquakes have put a canal back on the bargaining table.
A peripheral canal would divert a portion of Sacramento River flows, near the town of Hood, into an isolated channel. That water would then be carried directly to state and federal water export pumps near Tracy. Those pumps divert Delta water to 23 million residents of the Bay Area and Southern California, and they kill fish and alter natural water flows in the process.
In a report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California, six UC Davis professors say a peripheral canal is the only sustainable solution to the Delta's water woes. It is cheaper than other options and provides significant benefits for fish.
"The bottom line is if we are to pump water from north to south, then a peripheral canal is the only way you can do it and be somewhat environmentally friendly," said William Bennett, a UC Davis fisheries ecologist and co-author of the report.
The team recommends against a "dual conveyance" strategy favored by policy makers. This involves both a peripheral canal and a "through-Delta" water canal assembled by modifying existing levees within the Delta. They argue that any canal that relies on levees will not be sustainable in the long run and will always remain vulnerable to weather, climate change and weak soils.
The team also recommends a comparable investment in ecosystem restoration projects that would allow some Delta islands to flood permanently, and new government structures to improve Delta management.
The report and a six-page summary are available for download today at the institute's website: http://www.ppic.org.
Call The Bee's Matt Weiser, (916) 321-1264.
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