Judge Wanger Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Water Supply Ruling Impact

By James Peasley

Judge Wanger made a ruling in 2007 that ordered a historic reduction in supplies from the Delta. The single largest court-ordered water curtailment in state history. California simply cannot lose important water supplies without economic consequences. The Delta needs a comprehensive solution including new ways to isolate the impacts of water diversions from the estuary.

In addressing declining populations of the endangered Delta smelt, Wanger pieced together a series of restrictions on state and federal water project operations in the Delta, a supply source for 25 million Californians in the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, Central Coast, and Southern California.

California simply cannot lose important water supplies without real economic and other consequences throughout the state. The Delta, both as a valuable ecosystem and essential water supply, is broken and needs to be addressed. Wanger's decision stemmed from a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council against the federal Department of the Interior, challenging operations of the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project in the Delta.

Actual water supply curtailments will depend on fish, weather, and flow conditions in the Delta and how curtailments are divided between the state and federal projects. But its impacts could be felt statewide for many years to come. However, unless the Delta is fixed, these temporary cutbacks could become permanent. The cut back of water supplies doesn't address various other Delta problems and issues. Invasive species will continue to deplete food supplies for Delta smelt, pesticide runoff that can harm the estuary will persist, and the levee system will remain vulnerable to earthquakes.

The Delta needs a comprehensive solution that addresses all of its problems. Part of that solution must include new ways to isolate the impacts of water diversions from the estuary.