FIX CA Water
any plan Worth CONSIDERING must do AT MINIMUM five things:
The Western Delta Intakes Concept ( WDIC)
1. Convert the Delta Cross Channel gates to a boat lock;
2. Construct new intake facilities somewhere in the West Delta to allow flows to pass through the Delta in a natural way before surplus flows are extracted, Sherman Island is the logical place for this and it is already largely owned by the State.
3. Construct one or more tunnels that can move the extracted water to additional storage facilities near the existing Clifton Court Forebay;
4. Construct new intakes with fish screens along the Old River. During periods of very high flow in the San Joaquin and Old Rivers, these intakes and the Sherman Island intake could be used simultaneously;
5. Add south-of-Delta storage, much of it likely as groundwater, but also perhaps including new Westside surface storage; construct large diameter shafts for recharging depleted aquifers.
6. To maintain South Delta water quality, construct a lined canal to recirculate water from the aqueducts to the San Joaquin River as necessary.
WDIC vs. BDCP
1. Costs 50% less than the BDCP
2. Provides twice the benefits
3. Provides more water for export
4. Provides flood control benefits
5. Helps retard salt water intrusion
6. Reduces traffic delays on HWY 160
7. Is self-regulating. Overpump and you will suck in salt water!
1. Account for the natural variation in precipitation (as illustrated on the previous page)
2. Restore the natural flow of water through the Delta, both in pattern and quantity
3. Protect Northern California water rights and water quality
4. Address the legitimate needs of Southern California residents and San Joaquin Valley farmers
5. Be self-regulating and not rely on complicated agreements which can only lead to litigation
WATCH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WDIC SOLUTION
helps the environment
1. Restores more natural flow patterns
2. Ensures reasonable minimum outflows
3. Creates new habitat where it is most useful, at and off the western end of Sherman Island, close to the mixing zone
4. Adds shaded riparian habitat along Sherman Island and other islands improved to the "fat levee" standard
AND INcludes the world's finest fish screens
The White Paper on the WDIC introduced the concept that in normal to dry years, water would be extracted from the Delta only through a new forebay constructed on the eastern two-thirds of Sherman Island into which water would be drawn during periods of higher flows through “permeable embankments that would replace the existing levees along the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers; the approach velocities to these permeable embankments would be 100 times slower than the maximum approach velocities used in the current design of fish screens”. Additionally, the existing levees would be left in place, both to provide added protection to the new embankments and to create new riparian habitat and only a small proportion of total flow at Sherman Island would be extracted because the tidal flows are much greater than the river flows. These issues are discussed in the Addendum to the White Paper.
a solution that works for everyone!
The WDIC DOES All of these things AND MORE!
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FIX CA WATER @ 2016