Sustainability Issues in the California Delta

Abstract

The California delta is the heart of the state's water system and ground zero in the search for sustainable solutions to problems of water supply, habitat restoration, and flood risk reduction. For years the delta ecosystem has been in decline threatening species collapse and water supply reliability. In addition, people and infrastructure in the delta are dependent on levees for flood protection, levees that are susceptible to failure from earthquakes, seepage, and overtopping. Catastrophic levee failure would be devastating to people, water supply, infrastructure, and the environment. Water supply, habitat restoration, and flood risk reduction are interdependent systems in the delta, and our current ways of managing them are neither efficient nor sustainable. To implement new water infrastructure, restore habitat, and reduce flood risk, we must find solutions that meet not only today's needs but the needs of future generations as well. A sustainable water supply and a sustainable delta depend on a systems approach to achieve resiliency, efficiency, and smooth integration with other infrastructure systems; on sound decision making to manage risk and adapt to change; and on meeting the state's coequal goals of water supply reliability and ecosystem restoration.