Water authority responds to release of Draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan

The California Natural Resources Agency has released the first four of 12 draft chapters of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The plan proposes new water intakes and tunnels and habitat restoration to reverse the decline of native fish populations in the Delta and provide reliable water deliveries for two-thirds of California’s population and much of the state’s agricultural economy, San Diego County Water Authority reports.

“The water authority looks forward to reviewing the draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan as its component chapters are released over the coming weeks,” said Maureen Stapleton, water authority general manager. “We hope this draft and future revised drafts analyze a full range of alternatives for fixing the water supply and ecosystem challenges in the Bay-Delta, including both the BDCP’s preferred alternative — the dual-tunnel, 9,000 cfs (cubic feet per second) project — and the Portfolio Alternative advanced earlier this year. We need to make sure a Bay-Delta project is right-sized, affordable and gets built.”

More information about the Bay-Delta and the Portfolio Alternative is at sdcwa.org/bay-delta-conservation-plan.

Ramona Municipal Water District is one of 24 public agencies that make up the San Diego County Water Authority, a wholesale supplier of water from the Colorado River and Northern California.