The Drought Isn’t California’s Only Water Problem

[marmar]

(Wired) WHETHER YOU LIVE in or out of California, you are probably looking for something, anything, just one dang thing that will help you understand this impossibly complicated drought.

You’re not going to find it. No Central Valley almond, Los Angeles swimming pool, Palm Springs golf course, Fresno lawn, Nestle water bottle, Napa wine, Humboldt pot farm, or Merced River salmon is going to satisfy your craving for a culprit. Instead, allow me to divert your attention to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a massive estuary to the east of the San Francisco Bay that is the heart of a story that will at least explain why you’ll never get a satisfying explanation.

Actually, it’s not about the Delta, exactly; the real story is 200 feet below it, where the governor of the Golden State wants to dig huge tunnels that will make it easier for southern California to get northern California’s water.

Officially known as Conservation Measure 1 of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan—but commonly known as the Delta Tunnels—the idea is to dig two 35-mile tunnels, each 40 feet in diameter and capable of pumping 67,000 gallons of water per second from the Sacramento River to the California Aqueduct. The tunnels are supposed to fix the plumbing that delivers water to two-thirds of the state: every coastal city from San Francisco to San Diego, and millions of farms along the way. The plan is controversial, and has been in talks for a decade. If approved, the tunnels would take about ten years and an estimated $25 billion dollars to build. ................(more)

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/drought-isnt-californias-water-problem/