The San Francisco BayDelta Estuary

1
The San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary

• Largest estuary on the West Coast
• Vital resource for the states human and wildlife
  populations
• Encompasses 1,600 square miles
• Drains over 40 percent of the state
• 60,000 square mile watershed
• Provides drinking water to 2/3 of California
• Irrigates 4.5 million acres of farmland
• Supports important economic activities including
  commercial and sport fishing, shipping, industry,
  agriculture, recreation and tourism

Source San Francisco Estuary Project
2
Contra Costa County

• Located between the San Francisco Bay and the
  Delta
• 1 million population
• 19 cities (4 in legal delta secondary zone)
• History of Resource Stewardship
• Urban Limit Line
• Agriculture Core
• Habitat Conservation Plan
• Smart Growth
• General Plan Consistent with DPC

3
Contra Costa County Issues

• Levees
• (rehabilitation now our water
• supply and ecosystem
• depend on it)
• Governance
• (significant local
• government presence on
• governing bodies)

• Ecosystem Health
• Outflow (guarantee of
• adequate outflows critical
• to fish, water quality)
• Conveyance (significant
• impacts to Delta)
• Water quality and
• supply

4
Contra Costa County Efforts

• Water Conservation
• Landscape Ordinance
• Dual Plumbing
• Ordinance
• Drought ordinance
• expanding use of
• reclaimed water
• Regional based Delta
• Platform and Strategy
• Los Vaqueros

5
Statutory Delta

• Delta Protection Commission
• Primary Management
• Zone
• Secondary Management
• Zone
• Encompasses 5 counties

Source Delta Protection Commission
6
The Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta

• 1,100 miles of levees
• 70 reclaimed islands
• 700 miles of waterways
• 738,000 acres
• Agricultural lands support 500 million economy
  annually
• 500,000 Population
• Significant infrastructure, roads, railroads, gas
  pipelines, shipping routes, aqueducts

7
Scale of Proposed Changes

• Bay Delta Conservation Plan
• Restoration Opportunity Areas

8
Scale of Proposed Changes

• Bay Delta Conservation Plan
• Potential conveyance routes
• West canal/pipe
• East canal/pipe
• Middle River conveyance

9
Scale of Proposed Changes

• Ecosystem Restoration Program
• Draft Conservation Strategy
• Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and
• Wildlife Services, NOAA
• Floodway and floodplain
• expansion

Source Draft Ecosystem Restoration Program
Conservation Strategy 12-2007
10
Potential Impacts of large- scale changes on the
Delta Counties

• Changes in water quality for agriculture,
  municipal, and industrial intakes groundwater
• Potential challenges to water rights
• Loss of agriculture to habitat, peripheral canal,
  floodplain/floodway expansion
• Significant loss of tax base for acreage moving
  into public ownership
• Increasing regulation in Secondary Zone,
  limitations on land use activities that can
  impact the Delta (wastewater discharges, etc).
• Changes in governance structures, increased state
  involvement usurping county, city land use
  authority

11
Things we can do Statewide to preserve, increase
our water supply.

• Increase Conservation as a primary first step for
  municipal, industrial and agriculture (including
  incentive programs)
• Maximize use of reclaimed wastewater
• Integrate water supply and flood control systems
• Multi-purpose regional groundwater, surface water
  storage
• Regional Self-Sufficency

12
Regional Self-Sufficiency

Regional Self-Sufficiency is a concept whereby
all regions implement a variety of local water
supply options and institute conservation and
reuse programs to reduce reliance on exports from
the Delta. This should include desalination
where practicable, and regional storage
components.
13
Future Reality

• Everyone will
• have to do with
• less water

• Everyone will pay
• more for less
• water

Ggrpdata/Admin/Mitch/PP presentations/Bay Delta
Estuary-Landscape 11-25-08