An Update to California Water Issues

The last major Bureau of Reclamation Project in California was the New Melones Dam in 1983, which after causing much environmental and recreational opposition, heralded the end of major water development projects. But California's water issues remain. In 1992 the Central Valley Water Improvement Act was passed to address the impacts of the Central Valley Project on fish, wildlife and associated habitat. While the CVPIA has led to reductions of water delivery for agricultural use in the San Joaquin Valley (one of the largest beneficiaries of over-subsidized water from past water development projects), regulated and raised the cost of hydroelectric power, and spent over $1 billion in obligated funds, it has only completed 7 of 34 restoration projects. The Act was supposed to double salmon populations by 2002, but anadromous fish populations have only continued to decline. All these efforts thus far have been too little too late, as most California fish populations are still not receiving the amount of water or water quality naturalist and scientists recommend that they need to survive. All the while rainfall since the 1982-83 flood as been below average and many reservoirs continue to be filled below capacity as water demand continues to grow. The universal power of the large agricultural companies in the south is finally beginning to yield to other groups, such as the salmon fisherman who's business has declined exponentially, tourism which draws millions of users to wild rivers around the state for recreational use, and wetlands habitat, 95% of which is already lost in the state, which California is belatedly learning is incredibly important not just as habitat for migratory birds (which pleases recreational hunters and birders) but also for flood control and water quality. The State government has various teams assembled trying to come up with solutions to the state many and contrary water needs, and even the idea of Peripheral Canal to shuttle water past the Delta to southern California. But when a Peripheral Canal plan says it will deliver more water to southern California, AND deliver more clean water to the Delta, you can't help but wonder if someone is playing with the numbers again.