Conservation

Letter to the Scaramento Bee Dec. 17, 2008

Author: Chuck Knutson, Cal-Neva AFS

The 12/17/08 Bee editorial, "Accept reality of limits in Delta" is on target. California has a unique opportunity to set a new course for California resource management, one that provides for true balance between ecosystem and human water needs.

Building a new water conveyance system has the potential to benefit the ecosystem as well as provide a more reliable water supply, but its success will depend upon how these facilities are operated. Ecosystem recovery and sustainability goals must be established before a facility is funded, built, or operated. Facility operational details, such as conveyance capacity, total allowable diversions, and minimum bypass flows needed for a healthy Delta must be determined prior to project approval.

The current lack of specificity regarding future water diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin basin is troubling. Water managers and the public must recognize that our water supply is finite. Meaningful and lasting Delta ecosystem restoration and species recovery is fundamentally incompatible with ever-increasing demand for and removal of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Basin.

The Delta can never again be the pristine system that it was before large-scale human settlement. However, with proper balancing, it can be managed to sustain both human and natural communities.

Chuck Knutson, American Fisheries Society