Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) expressly includes assumptions about future conditions due to climate change, including sea level rise. Indeed, the anticipated hydrologic changes due to climate change will constrain and challenge future water management practices across the state, with or without the project. The BDCP seeks to avoid water supply disruption and protect water quality by modernizing California’s aging water delivery facilities to ensure 21st century seismic safety standards and climate change adaptation.

The BDCP would help California cope with changing weather patterns by enabling the capture of large amounts of winter flood flow at times of minimal ecological risk. In addition, a more reliable facility for moving water through the Delta would also boost operational flexibility to enhance the state’s ability respond to drought and sea level rise. 

The BDCP’s proposed dual conveyance facilities would allow water to be moved through the Delta as conditions permit. The location of the proposed north Delta diversion facility is further inland, making it less vulnerable to salinity intrusion and future sea level rise. By establishing an alternative diversion point for existing water exports, a great deal of water management flexibility is added. This added flexibility would provide more options for adaptively managing the Delta so that conditions can be optimized to provide the greatest benefits across all Delta water uses and habitat conditions.

 

Richard Stapler

Deputy Secretary
for Communications

California Natural
Resources Agency