California Water Fix and Eco Restore

California Water Fix and Eco Restore, formerly known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, is a controversial $15 billion[1] plan promulgated by the California Department of Water Resources to build two tunnels to carry fresh water from the Sacramento River under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta toward the intake stations for the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. Each tunnel would be 150 feet below ground, 40 feet in diameter and 30 miles in length. The project would also include three new intakes with a capacity of 3000 cubic feet per second each, and a total annual yield of 4.9 million acre-feet.[2][3] The tunnels themselves would cost $15 billion, while $8 billion would be devoted to habitat restoration, this funding primarily comes from urban water users who will have an additional payment of $5 each month.[1] These tunnels would largely follow the path of the previous Peripheral Canal proposal.[4] Politically these tunnels are considered closely associated with Governor of California Jerry Brown.[5]

Currently, water is exported from the Sacramento River to the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. Currently the water being exported is diverted from the Sacramento River at the Delta Cross Channel and flows through a maze of river channels and sloughs before entering the Clifton Court Forebay north of Tracy. From here the Banks Pumping Plant pumps water into the California Aqueduct and the South Bay Aqueduct; the nearby Bill Jones Pumping Plant pumps water into the Delta-Mendota Canal. Freshwater flows into the Delta rather than entering the San Francisco Bay. The freshwater/saltwater gradient has moved inland due to 5 to 7 million acre feet (6.2 to 8.6 km3) of water being exported each year to the Central Valley and Southern California.

According to proponents of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, building the tunnels directly to the pumping plants would mitigate this problem because the pumps would no longer have to pump directly from the delta; the tunnels could also protect the state's water system from the sea level rise predicted to occur as a result of global warming.[6] It would also "reinstate a more natural direction of river flows in the South Delta by 46-160 percent"[3] However, the proposal has been criticized because it would further reduce the amount of freshwater flowing through the Delta. Farmers in the Delta are among the most opposed to the project because it would decrease the amount of water available to them for irrigation.[7] The Water Fix is also said to address

On August 28, 2014 the United States Environmental Protection Agency commented that the plan could violate the Clean Water Act and harm endangered fish species.[2] In addition, the US Fish and Wildlife Service said they would not issue permits for the plan because the state could not prove that the habitat restoration plans would be effective in helping the salmon, sturgeon, or delta smelt.[8] As a result, the Brown administration separated the habitat restoration plan and the water supply improvement plan.[8][9] Before 2015, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan had two coequal goals of habitat restoration and water supply improvement. In effect, the 50-year guarantee to restore the Delta's environment has been dropped.[8]

Eco Restore

The Eco Restore plan is to mitigate the effects the California Water Fix will have on the environment either through construction or operation.[10] The planned Eco Restore includes upwards of 30,000 acres for restoration; 1000 of these acres will be for upland and habitat protection linked to flood protection, 3,500 acres for wetland restoration, 9000 acres for tidal and sub tidal zones, and the last 17,500 will be permitted for floodplain restoration.[11]

Table of the endangered or threatened species that will be affected by the proposed California Fix

The Eco Restoration has been allocated close to $8 million, some of which will come from Proposition 1.[1]

Restoration is viewed by ecologists as an important way to promote the recovery of an ecosystem.[12] The California Water Fix was subject to a biological assessment, which is required for any project that has the potential of having an impact on the environment. The table to the right shows a page from the biological assessment which lists threatened and endangered species that have the potential of being affected by the implementation of the California Water Fix. To offset potential degradation the Eco Restore was planned.

Protection and restoration of 13,302 acres includes areas such as the valley, vernal pools, non-tidal marsh and cultivated lands, and there will be up to 4.6 miles of levee restoration.[1]

The application of the Eco Restore is not guaranteed because of a bill that has been introduced in the House and has currently been assigned to the House Appropriations. Bill H.R. 5055 makes it so there is a no funding for restoration along the San Joaquin River and it would make it so that pumping is mandated out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.[13] If the bill is passed there will be no mitigation for the damage that may occur along the San Joaquin river due to the California Water Fix.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION ENTERPRISE (DCE) AGREEMENT AND EXHIBITS" (PDF). 09/23/15. Retrieved 03/01/16. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)
  2. 1 2 Weiser, Matt (27 August 2015). "California officials delay massive Delta water tunnel project". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  3. 1 2 "California Water Fix". California Water Fix. California Department of Water Resources. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Kazakoff, Lois (24 July 2012). "The return of the peripheral canal". SFGate. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Siders, David (23 Feb 2015). "Field Poll: Jerry Brown riding high, but not his big projects". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  6. ↑ "If not this California delta plan, then what?". Los Angeles Times. 7 May 2015. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Newton, Jim (2012-06-25). "Newton: Water ethics and a peripheral canal – Southern California needs the water, and Northern California has it. But let's not sacrifice the delta.". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-08-21.
  8. 1 2 3 Rogers, Paul (11 April 2015). "Delta tunnels: Major changes to environmental restoration could endanger Brown's water plan". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "DWR Announces Modified Preferred Alternative". Bay Delta Conservation Plan. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "California WaterFix". www.californiawaterfix.com. Retrieved 2016-05-01.
  11. ↑ "California Water Action Plan | California Natural Resources Agency". resources.ca.gov. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  12. ↑ "Ecological Restoration – a Means of Conserving Biodiversity and Sustaining Livelihoods | resources | Society for Ecological Restoration". www.ser.org. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  13. ↑ "H.R.5055 - Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2017". Congress.Gov. 04/26/2016. Retrieved 05/01/16. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)

External links

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