Another Article about the Peripheral Canal

I found this article yesterday by Daniel Weintrab of the Sacramento Bee. It jokes that discussions of the are going to stop being the topics of experts and "wonks" and become more common. I hope so, but I'd bet a dollar to doughnuts against that ever happening. Back to the article. So the article does a good job of breaking down the how important the delta is to nature and to millions of Californians.

Below are some of the key points in the article.

The Delta is in crisis, and that crisis could undermine the water supply for Southern California and the Silicon Valley, and curtail agriculture in the southern San Joaquin Valley, doing damage to the state's economy and potentially making ghost towns out of many farming communities. The end of the Delta as we know it might come slowly, or it could come overnight, from a major natural disaster. But it is coming.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is part of the largest estuary on the West Coast. More than 50 species of fish and 300 species of birds, mammals and wildlife have tried to make it their home.

The Delta also serves as a transfer point for the state's water supply. Snowmelt from the Cascades and the Sierra drains into the Sacramento River and flows into the Delta at its northern edge. Pumps at the southern end of the Delta then suck water out and send it to the Bay Area and Southern California, serving two-thirds of the state's residents and millions of acres of farmland.

Although this will not be a "water cooler" conversation, this will be a big fight on the ballot and the proponents need to be sure that history does not repeat itself. In 1982 there was an initiative that asked voters for a "Peripheral Canal" similar to this year. It went down in flames and every county north of Kern County opposing it by more than 70 percent. A link to the map can be found here.