View of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a key water source for Californians, as well as a point of contention.

The Golden State takes the national spotlight this Sunday, December 27, as Lesley Stahl reports on California’s water crisis on 60 Minutes. She’s interviewed Governor Schwarzenegger, farmers, and various water agencies throughout the state, according to KMJ News Talk Radio, and the message is that our drought has the potential to affect all Americans– in the form of higher prices at the grocery store and fewer choices in what we buy.

The timing of this feature is appropriate given that the Obama administration released an Interim Federal Action Plan this week to manage the Delta. Since the Delta is the hub of the state’s water supply system that provides water to 25 million Californians– it’s the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas—and since the federal government oversees two of California’s largest reservoirs, greater federal action is certainly warranted.

Critics, however, say the plan contains the same “broad, hopeful language” as before, and few tangible action items.

In any case, our water woes have turned heads around the country—and everyone will be watching as we work to keep our Golden State shining.

Tags: Delta, Schwarzenegger

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 10:51 am and is filed under Water Legislation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.