LA Times Editorial: L.A. may not get another wet winter for a while. We should prepare for drier times
This past weekend, the Los Angeles Times Editorial Board published an opinion, highlighting that despite positive progress, more needs to be done in Los Angeles to prepare for the inevitable return of drought conditions in the future.
As the LA Times puts it, “…quenching our thirst must not mean draining the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, or drying up the four great Central Valley rivers that form highways to the sea for migrating salmon and other endangered species.”
Excerpts of the opinion are included below, and highlight what we believe #ProDelta, #ProSalmon means for Los Angeles and Southern California.
“Meanwhile, quenching our thirst must not mean draining the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, or drying up the four great Central Valley rivers that form highways to the sea for migrating salmon and other endangered species. It’s encouraging that a state court this month upheld the water board’s rules requiring that agricultural uses take less water in order to keep those rivers flowing.
It may seem like a disconnect: Ordering farms to return more water to the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced and San Joaquin rivers while at the same time working to capture more water in the Los Angeles Basin and allow less to make its way down the Los Angeles River to the sea.
But the hydrology and geography of the regions are different, as are the roles each river plays in the environment. Keeping L.A. water in L.A. diminishes our need to import water from distant parts of the state and helps keep the state’s interconnected ecosystems healthy.
As for the delta, debate continues over a proposed tunnel that could direct Sacramento River water around the precarious region and southward to Los Angeles and other urban — and agricultural — areas. Even if the tunnel project moves forward, though, the water it would bring Los Angeles would never be enough to meet our needs — not without first making the best possible use of every drop already at our disposal.”
You can read the full opinion piece from the LA Times here.