Because some of those fish species, such as Chinook salmon and Delta smelt, are listed under the Endangered Species Act, there are times when the pumps cannot be used and water deliveries are curtailed. LS: Pumping surface water alters the currents and salinity of the Delta, which in turn can have harmful impacts on the ecosystem and a number of fish species. Why has the project been controversial? Can you explain concerns about the impact the tunnels would have on the Delta ecosystem? That water can be stored in the ground and increase our ability to rely on groundwater during droughts without depleting those aquifers. One role the tunnels, or tunnel, could play to help cope with this is to allow us to send more water south during very wet periods, and it could be particularly useful to recharge aquifers. We have seen this pattern in recent years, with a five-year drought that started in 2012 coming to an end with a record wet year during the winter of 2016-17. LS: As the climate warms, the swings between wet and dry periods are expected to become more extreme. What role do the tunnels play in the future of California’s water management? They’re not about creating more supply, they’re about conveying it in a smarter way for the environment, for water quality, for system sustainability and durability. They are intended to improve the way water supplies move through or around the Delta, which is at the heart of California’s water system. The tunnels are not a supply project, they are a conveyance project. TIMOTHY QUINN: The tunnels project is one element of a comprehensive California water action plan and this one element is pretty important. Pumping water south, as well as a variety of other human activities, has dramatically altered the Delta’s ecosystem. These pumps disrupt the hydrology and ecology of the Delta in a number of ways. The Bay Delta is the hub of that system, and currently we use massive pumps to pull water that comes from the San Joaquin and Sacramento basins. We currently have a complex infrastructure system to store water for use in the summer and dry periods, and to transport it to the coast and to the south for use by cities and farmers. Virtually all precipitation comes during the winter wet season. Rain and snow fall most heavily in the Sierra and the north, while we use large amounts of water for cities along the coast, as well as farms in the relatively arid Central and Imperial valleys. LEON SZEPTYCKI: The challenge California has always faced is that precipitation does not fall where and when we need water. Fish and Wildlife Service) What is the Delta Twin Tunnels project? The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta provides water to the San Joaquin Valley, Southern California and portions of the San Francisco Bay Area. Leon Szeptycki, executive director of Stanford’s Water in the West program, and Timothy Quinn, the Landreth Visiting Fellow at Water in the West, discussed the future of water in California and potential impacts of a tunnel system. In his first State of the State speech, Newsom expressed his support for a one-tunnel system, which could potentially save billions of dollars, but begs the question of whether a single tunnel can effectively transport enough water to thirsty regions of California in an ecologically friendly way. Formally known as California Waterfix, the project also involved building three new water-diversion facilities to restore a more natural direction of river flow in the South Delta, benefiting local estuaries and fisheries. Jerry Brown in 2014, the twin tunnels project proposed to build two tunnels, 40 feet high, 35 miles long, buried 150 feet below the Delta. Part of the California Water Action Plan signed by Gov. The tunnels are intended in part to reduce the impacts that massive pumps at the south end of the Delta currently have on Delta hydrology and ecosystems. Gavin Newsom announced this week his plan to downsize the Delta twin tunnels project, a controversial $17 billion water conveyance system aimed at diverting water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the Central Valley and Southern California.
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