BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLANNovember 2009

Delta In Crisis

• 25 million people, farms and businesses in Northern, Central and Southern California depend on water that funnels through the Delta

• Delta is broken and unreliable as California’s primary water delivery system– Ecosystem is collapsing, putting several fish species at risk– Water supply slashed due to drought and regulatory restrictions: SWP – 40%, CVP – 10% – Levees are weak and at risk of failure– Rising sea levels cause threat of salt water intrusion

• State leaders agree current conveyance through Delta system is flawed

• Action is needed to protect the Delta ecosystem and California’s water supply

Getting Oriented – The Delta

SUISUN BAY

SACRAMENTO

STOCKTON

STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTS

BDCP – Overview

• Science-based, long-term conservation plan

• Follows nationally recognized habitat conservation planning process – Several hundred similar plans developed across country

• Being developed in an open and public process

• Implemented throughout next 50 years

• One of the most ambitious and far-reaching ecosystem restoration efforts ever undertaken

BDCP – Objectives

• Comprehensive ecosystem approach provides best opportunities to meet co-equal goals: fishery recovery and water supply restoration

• Separate water delivery system from Delta freshwater flows; new conveyance facility would bypass Delta

• Restore thousands of acres of habitat

• Restore river flows to more natural patterns

• Address the many other stressors impacting fish populations – invasive species, pesticides, ammonia discharges, etc.

BDCP - Steering Committee

• California Bay-Delta Authority• California Natural Resources Agency• California Department of Water Resources• California Department of Fish & Game• State Water Resources Control Board• US Bureau of Reclamation• US Army Corps of Engineers• US Fish & Wildlife Service• National Marine Fisheries Service• California Farm Bureau Federation• Mirant Delta• Contra Costa Water District• Kern County Water Agency

• Metropolitan Water District of So Cal• North Delta Water Agency• San Luis & Delta Mendota Water

Authority• Santa Clara Valley Water District• Westlands Water District• Zone 7 Water Agency• American Rivers• Defenders of Wildlife• Environmental Defense• Natural Heritage Institute• The Bay Institute• The Nature Conservancy

BDCP - Habitat RestorationBDCP goes beyond bare-bones compliance with individual endangered species laws: it aids the recovery of numerous species at once. Comprehensive habitat restoration effort will include:

•Restoring up to 80,000 acres of tidal marsh, seasonally inundated floodplain and riparian habitat distributed throughout the Delta•Enhancing 11,500 – 21,000 acres of existing seasonal floodplain habitat in the Yolo Bypass•Enhancing up to 20 miles of Delta channels to create a more natural riverbank with overhanging shade, instream woody debris and shallow benches•Implemented through newly-established Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy

BDCP – Habitat Restoration Benefits

• Restore crashed food web• Increase food production in the Delta and Suisun Bay• Provide new spawning and rearing habitat for fish species• Improve water temperature conditions• Provide better movement corridors for fish species

BDCP – Habitat Restoration

• Fish grow bigger and faster in restored habitat areas than in the river itself.

BDCP – Addressing Other Stressors

Many factors have negatively impacted the Delta and its fish populations. The BDCP will address those factors by:•Evaluating effects of ammonia on fish species

– Ammonia/um discharge from Sacramento’s treated wastewater nearly doubled in 20 years

•Reducing illegal in-Delta water diversions•Reducing agricultural pesticides and herbicides•Controlling invasive species in the Delta•Reducing poaching

BDCP – New Conveyance

The central premise of the BDCP is that the existing water conveyance system is fundamentally flawed and incompatible with the long-term restoration of the Delta.

•Modifying infrastructure to convey water around the Delta is essential to Delta’s health and water supply reliability

•Water to be diverted from points further north on the Sacramento River

•Several options being considered for new conveyance– Canal: Eastern Alignment– Canal: Western Alignment– Tunnel

How Water Currently Flows Across the Delta - Graphic

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2222

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SACRAMENTO RIVER– DELTA CROSS CHANNELDELTA CROSS CHANNEL– MOKELUMNE RIVER– MOKELUMNE RIVER– OLD & MIDDLE RIVERS– OLD & MIDDLE RIVERS

SOUTH DELTA SOUTH DELTA RIVER REVERSALRIVER REVERSAL

SACRAMENTO RIVER REVERSES

OCEAN/TIDALHIGH SALINITY

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

How Water Currently Flows Across The Delta

BDCP – New Conveyance Benefits

• Substantial improvements over existing conditions:- Flexibility from multiple points of diversion- Minimizes potential for entrainment- Allows more extensive habitat restoration- Restores more natural flow patterns in the Delta- Protects water supply from earthquake threats and

rising sea levels

BDCP - Intake Options

• The nation’s top engineers are advising on the best intake options for a new conveyance system.

• Five different intake sites would minimize impacts on any one area of the Sacramento River.

• Three state-of-the-art intake technologies under consideration:– On-bank cylindrical screen– On-bank screen– In-river screen

SACRAMENTOSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTO

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVERSTATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

SACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVER

STOCKTONSTOCKTONSTOCKTONSTOCKTON

Dual Conveyance – East Alignment

SACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTO

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

STOCKTONSTOCKTONSTOCKTONSTOCKTON

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

Dual Conveyance – West Alignment

SACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTO RIVERSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTOSACRAMENTO

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

STATE & FEDERAL STATE & FEDERAL PUMPING PLANTSPUMPING PLANTS

STOCKTONSTOCKTONSTOCKTONSTOCKTON

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

SAN JOAQUIN RIVER

Dual Conveyance – Central Tunnel Alignment

BDCP – Cross Section of Potential Canal

24'

340 ft.

10 ft. soil replaced

Slope – 3:1

1,000 ft.

700 feet

California Aqueduct

(110’ wide x 30’ deep)

Delta Cross Channel(700’ wide x 15’ deep)

36’ max

BDCP – Environmental Review Process

• The BDCP is undergoing an extensive environmental review process conducted by the California Department of Water Resources and the US Bureau of Reclamation. Other participating agencies include:– California Department of Fish & Game– US Fish & Wildlife Service– National Marine Fisheries Service

• The environmental review will:– Analyze environmental impacts of options being considered under

the BDCP– Gather and analyze concerns voiced by members of the public– Develop engineering options for habitat restoration and water

conveyance

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DRAFT DRAFT CONSERVATION CONSERVATION

STRATEGYSTRATEGY

DRAFT DRAFT EIREIR

20082008 20092009 20102010

SCOPINGSCOPINGMEETINGSMEETINGS

PERMITPERMITDECISIONDECISION

SIGNEDSIGNEDAGREEMENTAGREEMENT

BDCP – Financing

• Several financing options being explored – beneficiaries to share costs

• Public water agencies committed to paying for new conveyance facilities– CA Department of Water Resources estimates $8.3 - $9.4 billion for a

canal, depending on alignment, and $10.6 billion for a tunnel

• Habitat restoration funded by the public– $2.250 billion dedicated in November 2010 water bond; statewide

measure must be approved by California voters

BDCP – Governance & Oversight• Recent legislation provides oversight mechanisms• Mandates establishment of Delta Stewardship

Council as oversight entity– Develop “Delta Plan” to advance co-equal goals of eco-system restoration and

water supply reliability by 2012

• Requires Council to ensure BDCP’s compliance with strictest environmental standards in nation– Natural Communities Conservation Planning Act

• Requires State Water Resources Control Board to approve a diversion permit

BDCP – Next Steps

• Host public workshops, ongoing stakeholder outreach

• Determine financing & implementation plan • Finalize and release Conservation Strategy• Issue Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement

BDCP – Supporters of Delta Fix

Organizations and leaders throughout California have called for a conceptual Delta fix that includes habitat restoration and improved conveyance:

•State Water Contractors•Association of California Water Agencies•California Farm Bureau Federation•The Nature Conservancy•Southern California Water Committee•California Chamber of Commerce•Public Policy Institute of California•Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger•U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein•Newspapers around the state

Questions

• Laura King Moon, (916) 447-7357 or laurak@swc.org• www.swc.org

• Karla Nemeth, (916) 651-7587 or karla.nemeth@resources.ca.gov• www.baydeltaconservationplan.com