Editorial: Age of limits for California’s water wars
Publisher’s note: This editorial is from the Sept. 16, 2016, Sacramento Bee.
It has been 110 years since the San Francisco fire led to the damming of the Tuolumne River, cornering dibs on some of the world’s most pristine water for that lucky city by the bay.
Hetch Hetchy water: It’s the California luxury that the Bay Area has, for generations, taken for granted. And given how delicious it is, clear and sparkling, straight from Yosemite National Park, another coup that never stops being amazing, we’re not surprised at how last week’s dispatch from state water regulators is being viewed by its users – namely, as a water grab and a gathering emergency.
But the State Water Resources Control Board is overdue in its call to leave more water in the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced rivers, not to mention the river they feed, the San Joaquin, which is one of the most heavily tapped in the state.