More than 1,100 miles of levees curve through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta – a set of fortifications that is comparable in length to one-fourth of the Great Wall of China.
Unlike the Great Wall, however, most of the Delta's levees are built on unstable, peat-filled soil. Many have foundations below sea level. If an earthquake were to strike this region, numerous levees could crumble at once, allowing salt water to rush into an estuary that provides drinking water for 22 million people in California.
Geologists say it's not a matter of if such a disaster will occur. The question is when it will happen. That means the state can't just make long-term plans for coping with temblors and sea level rise in the Delta. It also needs a short-term plan for a disaster that could happen tomorrow.
During this session of the Legislature, lawmakers passed Senate Bill X2 1, a bill that would allocate nearly $821 million in bond funds that voters approved through Propositions 84 and 1E and previous bond measures.
About one-sixth of this money – $135 million – would go to safeguarding the Delta's most vulnerable levees and financing an emergency response. One big need is for the state Department of Water Resources to stockpile adequate rock and store it in key locations, so contractors can quickly respond and repair a levee breech.
Authored by Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, SB X2 1 would fund a range of projects – some with less urgency than Delta levee protection. Overall, however, it's a bill the governor should sign.
Money from SB X2 1 could be used immediately to clean up polluted groundwater basins, making them fit to be used for storage. It would fund collaborations between farms and urban areas to conserve water, providing immediate relief from the drought.
It would build salinity barriers and improve habitat in the Delta, reducing conflicts between fish and water pumping. Lastly, it would fast-track needed studies of other water storage projects, allowing the public and policymakers to know if such projects are cost-effective.
Last year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a version of this bill, largely because big water interests wanted to hold it hostage for an agreement on proposed new reservoirs. This year, those same San Joaquin Valley water interests are at it again, trying to block expenditures from previous voter-approved water bonds so they can pressure lawmakers into a larger deal.
Schwarzenegger catered to these interests last year. He shouldn't repeat that mistake. If an earthquake were to strike the Delta tomorrow, the Department of Water Resources and local agencies would be unprepared to respond to the resulting water crisis.
Schwarzenegger has been a leader in improving flood control across the Central Valley. Now he has money at his fingertips to mitigate a Delta disaster. He shouldn't allow it to be hijacked as part a larger political calculation.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.