Opinion: California must preserve water from Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Despite having a comprehensive system of natural reserves and human ingenuity, conservationists estimated that nearly 95% of the received rainfall in California was diverted to the Pacific Ocean. The wanton runoff ignited bipartisan outrage … Although the runoff can be interpreted as an egregious failure of bureaucracy, water pumping restrictions are informed by environmental regulations that preserve the Delta’s ecological integrity. … In effect, the Delta Smelt’s ecological significance impedes the amount of water that can be pulled from the Delta for millions of Californians as well as for the state’s agricultural complex. And herein lies the crux of California’s water conservation: the increasing gap between a substantiating ecological collapse and booming economic infrastructure.
-Written by Jun Park is a candidate for a master of social work at the University of Southern California.