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Calif. tries to find a balance with water needs


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By Karen Weise, Bloomberg

A century after William Mulholland’s Los Angeles aqueduct first began watering the Southland, the water wars in California show no sign of abating.

The state reached a milestone on Monday in its effort to balance equal-but-conflicting goals: channeling more water to dry farmland and cities while restoring the natural habitat already hurt by the state’s thirst.

California has released details of a $25 billion plan to run two tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The tunnels would divert water from supplies north of the delta to existing pumps on its southern edge that push water to Southern California and the agricultural land of the Central Valley.

By forcing the water underground for 35 miles, the plan also calls for the restoration of more than 80,000 acres of habitat in the delta, which houses 56 species of plants, fish, and wildlife that have been struggling. The area’s current system of fragile earthen levees are vulnerable to a nightmare scenario known as “California’s Katrina.”

The state’s twin reports explaining the conservation proposal and the impact of the water project span some 34,000 pages; the “highlights” brochures alone total more than 170 pages. The reports look at 14 alternatives but focus on the one favored by Gov. Jerry Brown.

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Comments (10)
  1. A.B. says - Posted: December 12, 2013

    Once again, the issue of illegal immigration is rearing it’s head. How?

    California’s water system was designed for a population of 12,000,000.

    Any questions?

  2. Rick says - Posted: December 12, 2013

    Sorry A.B.: I give your troll message a C-. Let’s see we have a population o 38 million people with about 2 million undocumented people in the state ummm 38 minus 2 equals ……?

    Rick

  3. cosa pescado says - Posted: December 12, 2013

    I wonder if AB thinks they are being smart when they post stuff like that.

    The whiteys in the suburbs with their lawns are using more water than 100s of ‘illegal’ families.

    So the issue of wasteful whiteys is rearing its ugly head.

  4. suspicious mind says - Posted: December 13, 2013

    Let’s face it folks both legal and illegal immigration has had a lot to do with CA’s swelling population use of water. The dry southern half wants the much wetter northern half’s water. Why do you think the useless expensive water meters are being installed in SLT? That’s right so the dry southern folks can tap our water except there is no way to get Tahoe water out of the basin.

  5. County Gal says - Posted: December 13, 2013

    Be still my little grasshopper. Waste water is pumped out of the basin. Who or what says that the powers to be won’t pump something else out of the basin.

  6. rhinopoker says - Posted: December 13, 2013

    I have said it for years that water will be the one issue to divide the state into two. In 50 years or less California will be two states because of water and water wars.

  7. go figure says - Posted: December 13, 2013

    Rhinopoker, how will california being two states resolve the water wars? There are many states that get water from other states. The issue really is conservation and water is wasted all the time. The southern calif. People need to put their money into desalinization plants. Of course if they wait
    long enough most of the south area will be under water. Wont that be a bit of irony…

  8. suspicious mind says - Posted: December 14, 2013

    Dear County Stupid,

    The cost to pump a few gallons of
    decent clean wastewater
    out of the basin is exorbitant.
    To pump out our surplus water in
    any meaningful quantity over the
    mountains and to the nearest tie
    in would make store bought water
    look cheap. Wake up and smell the
    effluent.

  9. suspicious mind says - Posted: December 14, 2013

    Dear County Dunce,

    The cost to pump a few gallons of
    decent clean wastewater
    out of the basin is exorbitant.
    To pump out our surplus water in
    any meaningful quantity over the
    mountains and to the nearest tie
    in would make store bought water
    look cheap. Wake up and smell the
    effluent.