Delta

About the Delta Section

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, a rich fishery, a boater's paradise and California's most important water supply. Environmental decline and natural disasters threaten to change the Delta forever. Stay on top of the changes here as policymakers debate the Delta's future.

Delta restoration plan released for review

By Matt Weiser - Updated: Tuesday, May 15 2012 - 10:33 am

The final draft of a plan to restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was released for public review Monday.

Draft plan for Delta tunnel won't meet June deadline

By Matt Weiser - Updated: Saturday, May 5 2012 - 8:35 am

A draft plan for a massive Delta water diversion will not be completed by the end of June as expected, state officials announced Friday.

Read more about the politics, policies and challenges facing the Delta.

Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta faces deadline for restoring fish habitat - Apr 22
Needs of threatened Delta fish to be studied at UC Davis - Apr 5
Prestigious panel agrees: Delta is stressed, with no easy fix - Mar 30
Bay Delta water diversion plan could harm fish temporarily, state analysis says - Mar 1
Delta water tunnel analysis released - Feb 29
Water tunnels would be huge project -- if they clear huge obstacles - Feb 29
Public hearings are set this month on Delta Plan - Jan 9
Protected Delta smelt population hits highest level in 10 years - Dec 26
California Water Commission delays efforts to condemn Delta land - Oct 20
California moves ahead with eminent domain for Delta water project soil testing - Oct 19
Delta gates will close in effort to aid salmon migration - Oct 4
Judge rejects effort to aid Delta salmon - Sep 21
UCLA researchers shake model levee, for peat's sake - Aug 30
Invader invited to defend Delta - Aug 6
Delta council's plan seeks fees on utility systems - Aug 8

Coming Next

Interactive Map

Explore our interactive map to learn more about Delta islands, sample reader videos and read past articles about the region.

Special Report

The Delta debate: Resurrecting the canal

By Matt Weiser - Updated: Wednesday, March 10 2010 - 11:06 am

California as we know it today was built largely on this fantasy: That arid cities in the south could indefinitely satisfy the thirst of a growing population by importing water from the north.

Research and Reports

Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force
Final strategic plan (Nov. 2008): recommendations to governor and legislature on restoration, water plumbing
Public Policy Institute of California
Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (July 2008): recommendations on restoration, water plumbing
Calif. Department of Water Resources
Environmental studies underway on Delta canal options (ordered by Gov. Schwarzenegger Feb. 2008)
Bay-Delta Conservation Plan
Multi-agency effort to prepare habitat conservation plan, including new plumbing (expected late 2010)
CalFed Bay-Delta Science Program
Links to many Delta research topics