– By Bill Wells
The fabulous California Delta is within an hours drive of the Bay Area, yet you will feel you are in a different world.
The Delta is formed by the confluence of two major California rivers; the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, and covers some 500,000 acres in the central part of the state. It is home to 225 species of birds, 54 fish species, and 52 species of mammals. The Delta produces some $2 billion in annual crop revenue.
You can spend years exploring the 1,000 miles of local waterways by boat. If you travel by car, motorcycle, or bicycle, there are hundreds of miles of back roads, villages, and towns to visit.
You can ride on some of the only remaining ferry boats in California. Bird watching, wine tasting, local museums, antique shops, and art galleries are but a few of the points of interest you will encounter.
The Delta is also noted for it’s excellent fishing and duck hunting. The Rio Vista Bass Festival attracts 15,000 fishermen and friends each year It has been in existence.
Unfortunately, all is not well in this treasure we call “The Heart of California”. The State Water Project and the Central Valley Project divert much of the Delta water to Central and Southern California. The lower water flows in the Delta caused by the diversions have contributed to the decline in fish populations and proliferation of invasive plants that have clogged waterways over the last few decades.
Now with the administration’s plans to divert the Sacramento River around the Delta via twin 40 foot diameter tunnels, it is possible that what is left of the Delta will be destroyed.
Many local grass roots organizations have banded together to fight the project and the Environmental Protection Agency wrote a scathing letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service which has sent the California Natural Resource Agency back to the drawing board to modify the plan to make it less harmful to the estuary.
We are hopeful that the tunnels will never be built and that water flows will be restored to a level that will be beneficial to the native fish and plant life. With a finite water supply and an ever increasing population, California needs to look at ways of creating new water – not reallocating it from one area to another.
Bill Wells is the Executive Director of the California Delta Chambers & Visitor’s Bureau and has been active in the fight to preserve and protect the California Delta. He served for two plus years on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) public meeting panel and is currently a member of the Delta Protection Commission Advisory Committee.
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