Blog: Part II — The Delta in Our Time
From the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) Blog, in a post by Jerry Meral, deputy secretary, California Natural Resources Agency:
“This is the second of a three-part blog summarizing the evolution of public policy for Delta water supplies. Part I examined the original planning for the State Water Project. Part Two discusses the development of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
“On a quiet summer day in June 1972, the failure of the Andrus-Brannan Islands caused sea water to rush into the Delta, jeopardizing the quality of supplies for the Contra Costa Water District and for the exports that serve millions of consumers in the Bay Area, Southern California and the Central Valley. This event forced decision makers to focus on the need for an alternative way to export water that currently flows into the Delta, given the mounting concerns about the reliability of its levees. …
“Planning for the development of the Peripheral Canal consequently intensified. In 1980 Governor Brown and the Legislature agreed on a plan that would link construction of the new facility with a new regime of protections for the environmental resources of the Delta, as well as additional Central Valley water storage.”