Peripheral Canal
Encyclopedia
A Peripheral Canal has been proposed to divert water from the Sacramento River
, through (or around the periphery of) the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. It would transfer water into the California Aqueduct
, North Bay Aqueduct
, South Bay Aqueduct
, and San Luis Canal via the Jones and Banks pumping stations, then be pumped to Central and Southern California (including San Francisco Bay Area water providers, like Santa Clara Valley Water District). Construction costs are estimated at between $3 and $17 billion, depending on the source. A 2006 report prepared by Washington Group International for the State Water Contractors (e.g. Metropolitan Water District) estimates the cost of a canal along the eastern side of the Delta to be between $3.3 and $3.7 Billion.
Currently, that water is being pulled through the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. The through-Delta system has turned the Delta, originally a fluctuating-salinity estuary, into a freshwater basin. It has also created unnatural north to south flows in the Delta, confusing native species such as the Delta Smelt
and disturbing the ecosystem.
Voters defeated a ballot initiative to build the Canal in 1982. Ever since then, the words "Peripheral Canal" have been called the "third rail
" in water politics
.
In recent years, however, after Judge Wanger shut off pumping stations in the South Delta because of their environmental impact, the idea of a Peripheral Canal has had a revival. Among others, Tom Birmingham
, the head of the Westlands Water District, Tim Quinn, the director of the Association of California Water Agencies, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
's Blue Ribbon Delta Vision Panel have fallen in line with the idea, although the Delta Vision Panel did not rate it as its primary goal.
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...
, through (or around the periphery of) the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. It would transfer water into the California Aqueduct
California Aqueduct
The Governor Edmund G. Brown California Aqueduct is a system of canals, tunnels, and pipelines that conveys water collected from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys of Northern- and Central California to Southern California. The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the...
, North Bay Aqueduct
North Bay Aqueduct
North Bay Aqueduct is part of the California State Water Project. The aqueduct is long all in pipelines and serves Napa and Solano counties, California....
, South Bay Aqueduct
South Bay Aqueduct
The South Bay Aqueduct is an aqueduct located in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It conveys water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta through over forty miles of pipelines and canals. It begins in north-eastern Alameda County on the California Aqueduct's Bethany Reservoir serving...
, and San Luis Canal via the Jones and Banks pumping stations, then be pumped to Central and Southern California (including San Francisco Bay Area water providers, like Santa Clara Valley Water District). Construction costs are estimated at between $3 and $17 billion, depending on the source. A 2006 report prepared by Washington Group International for the State Water Contractors (e.g. Metropolitan Water District) estimates the cost of a canal along the eastern side of the Delta to be between $3.3 and $3.7 Billion.
Currently, that water is being pulled through the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta. The through-Delta system has turned the Delta, originally a fluctuating-salinity estuary, into a freshwater basin. It has also created unnatural north to south flows in the Delta, confusing native species such as the Delta Smelt
Delta smelt
Delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus, is an endangered slender-bodied smelt, about long, of the Osmeridae family. Endemic to the upper Sacramento-San Joaquin estuary of California, it mainly inhabits the freshwater-saltwater mixing zone of the estuary, except during its spawning season, which...
and disturbing the ecosystem.
Voters defeated a ballot initiative to build the Canal in 1982. Ever since then, the words "Peripheral Canal" have been called the "third rail
Third rail (metaphor)
The phrase third rail is a metaphor in politics to denote an idea or topic that is so "charged" and "untouchable" that any politician or public official who dares to broach the subject would invariably suffer politically.-Denotation:...
" in water politics
Water politics
Water politics, sometimes called hydropolitics, is politics affected by the availability of water and water resources, a necessity for all life forms and human development...
.
In recent years, however, after Judge Wanger shut off pumping stations in the South Delta because of their environmental impact, the idea of a Peripheral Canal has had a revival. Among others, Tom Birmingham
Tom Birmingham
Thomas Francis Birmingham is the former President of the Massachusetts Senate. He is widely credited, along with Mark Roosevelt, with passage of a sweeping education bill, the Education Reform Act of 1993...
, the head of the Westlands Water District, Tim Quinn, the director of the Association of California Water Agencies, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
's Blue Ribbon Delta Vision Panel have fallen in line with the idea, although the Delta Vision Panel did not rate it as its primary goal.