Feds moving toward addressing Central Valley water issues

WASHINGTON, D.C.
November 10, 2009 12:04am

The federal government might be moving toward approving more water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta to farms and ranches south of the Delta.

The National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council Governing Board on Tuesday is expected to approve a request of the Departments of the Interior and Commerce for an independent scientific review of key questions relating to the Delta, and how to both protect the ecosystem and provide a reliable water supply, says Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

He says the first NAS report, due next March, will direct particular attention to water delivery restrictions and whether there are available alternative actions that would have lesser impacts on water deliveries while still providing equal or greater protection for fish in the Delta and their designated critical habitat.

“The NAS report will also look at the extent to which factors other than water pumping … are contributing to the collapse of the Bay Delta ecosystem,” Mr. Salazar says.

He says the Obama Administration is “fully committed” to funding and moving forward with construction of the Delta-Mendota Canal/California Aqueduct Intertie, which could facilitate water transfers between the “haves” and the “have-nots.”

“The Administration is also continuing to pursue the Two-Gates Fish Protection Demonstration Project through the required permitting processes, on an expedited basis,” Mr. Salazar says.