The Sacramento-San Joaquin delta, the center of California's water wars

Last week, the National Academy of Sciences released their long-awaited report on the Delta. The results were received by stakeholders on both sides of the Delta debate as a sort of victory, according to a New York Times report.

On the one hand, the findings validate environmental actions taken by the federal agencies to protect fish populations like the delta smelt and salmon that migrate through the delta. These restrictions compounded water shortages already in place due to California’s three-year drought.

However, as Lester Snow of the Department of Water Resources pointed out in his statement, scientific support for how the water restrictions were implemented remains uncertain.  Snow also noted that other variables may play a huge role in explaining the depleting fish populations, and re-emphasized the need for a “long-term, comprehensive solution” to California’s water woes.

The mixed messages sent by the report are intended to indicate that the issue needs more study. The NAS research team conducting the investigation is composed of fifteen scientists. They plan to continue studying the delta and will provide further evaluations through fall 2011.

Tags: Delta

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Central Basin News, 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.