Blog: Bay Delta Conservation Plan and Integrated Water Management Part II
From the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) Blog:
“The integrated water management efforts described in our last blog cannot offset entirely the loss of reliability associated with a significant source of water for much of the state: the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The unpredictability of Delta supplies puts a large portion of California’s economy and population at risk.
“The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) focuses on the roughly eight percent of California’s water supply, on average, that is pumped from the Delta. …
“By necessity, the BDCP — a habitat conservation plan under the U.S. and California endangered species acts — is comprehensive. It sets forth conditions — including independent scientific review and adaptive management — under which the government would operate a new Delta diversion point for 50 years. It includes protections for 57 different species of concern.
“The BDCP, however, does not stand alone. The conservation plan and integrated water management support one another. …
“Without the BDCP, the water we gain with conservation and recycling will go toward replacing what we have lost from the Delta — not toward helping us cope with climate change and additional growth. Moreover, BDCP would make investments in water storage and voluntary water transfers more effective and reliable. Otherwise, we leave the Delta’s ecosystem and California’s economy at unacceptably high risk of jeopardy.”
The May/June Western Water featured the topic, “Meeting the Co-equal Goals? The Bay Delta Conservation Plan.”