California Water and the Peripheral Canal - the heart of the state's water problem

Here we go again. Legislators, farmers, fishermen, environmentalists and community activists have come out against the proposed peripheral canal that would shift Northern California water southward around the delta. The delta is an important part of the water system here in California as most of the drinking water in our state flows through it. Because of the drought conditions that have plagued our state for the past three or four years, there has been a significant lack of water flowing into the delta. This in-turn has allowed salt water from the bay to flow inland causing all sorts of problems. Farmers need the water for their crops and people need the water for drinking. Its a classic fight here in the Golden State. The proposed canal would redirect about 15,000 cubic feet of water a second through a 500 to 700 foot wide, 47 mile long canal into the southern part of the state... where I live by the way. Critics claim that the delta cannot sustain that kind of diversion even if we were not in a drought. Sport fishermen say the canal will destroy delta fisheries, water quality and waste tens of billions of dollars and severely damage the delta's economy not to mention the increase in litigation over the use of water. One state assembly member said that building the canal would be the biggest public construction made in the United States, equivalent to building the Panama Canal.

Hummm. Sounds like that person is not very well schooled in history. I suggest they take a road trip to Boulder (Hoover) Dam on the Colorado River, and then follow the river down to the Davis Dam, then turn right and follow the aqueduct so they can get a sense of just how small the canal project is compared to what was built in the 20th century. Here in the west, water is the life blood of everything. Mess with it and there will be hell to pay. People living in an area that has, at times, an abundance of water, appear to care very little for those who live in areas that are arid or semi-arid. The battle continues.... the film Chinatown comes to mind. I need a drink of water.