Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
10 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 15 years ago -"Comparing Futures for the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta" originated as a report by a multidisciplinary team of experts, including UC Davis scientists Jay Lund, William Fleenor, William Bennett, Richard Howitt, Jeffrey Mount, and Peter Moyle and the Public Policy Institute’s Ellen Hanak. These videos highlight presentations at a two-day workshop in 2008 to discuss those findings, including the idea that a peripheral canal —conveying water around the delta instead of through it — should be part of a long-term strategy to serve both water supply and environmental objectives.
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Episodes
Peripheral Canal Design and Implementation Options
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 33 minutes - 71.3 MB VideoLund discusses recent policy and technical discussions that have begun to revisit the idea of building a peripheral canal to divert water from the Sacramento River upstream of the Delta and deliver it to the export pumps. A canal or other form of upstream diversion of water exports involves a wide range of important decisions including: infrastructure, operations, environmental, governance, finance, etc.
Policy and Regulatory Challenges for the Delta
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 46 minutes - 93.7 MB VideoEllen Hanak, of the Public Policy Institute of California, reviews several governance and regulatory challenges for the management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. She takes into account the changes occurring in this region as a result of sea level rise, increasing risk to levees, inevitable changes in the sustainability of beneficial uses due to sea level rise and additional permanent island flooding, and the challenges posed by declining populations of native fish species.
Decision Analysis of Delta Strategies
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 58 minutes - 120 MB VideoWhat is the best decision for managing water exports in the Delta? Jay Lund asks. This presentation looks at four strategies and how they may affect environmental sustainability and reliable water supply by mid-century to account for natural forces acting in the Delta, such as sea level rise.
Economic Costs and Adaptations for Alternative Delta Regulations
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 1 hour - 124 MB VideoWater exports from the southern Delta to users in the Bay Area and Southern California have become a central concern for the environmental health of the Delta, due to the dramatic decline of numerous fish species in recent years. This video discussion looks at two alternatives to those pumping operations, using the CALVIN model.
Economic Effects on Ag from Water Export Salinity
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 47 minutes - 92.5 MB VideoSoil salinity has been a problem for agriculture in California's southern Central Valley for decades. Since the 1950s, the Delta has been a major source of surface water for the region, but salinity is once again becoming a major issue. Howitt provides preliminary estimates for long-term revenue losses for irrigated crops and confined animal operations in the Southern Central Valley as a result of salt accumulation.
Delta Drinking Water Quality and Treatment Costs
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 50 minutes - 101 MB VideoThis presentation by Wei-Hsiang Chen from the UC Davis John Muir Institute for the Environment explores the current and long-term effects of Delta export water quality on drinking water treatment cost and any public health risks from the disinfection process. Salinity, organic carbons, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous) and pesticides/herbicides are of primary interest.
Levee Decisions and Sustainability for the Delta
November 13, 2008 08:00 - 56 minutes - 108 MB VideoRobyn Suddeth, a graduate student in the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, outlines the major factors that make levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta landscape susceptible to future flooding — sea level rise, seismicity, subsidence and changing inflows. She then discusses the economic methods for approaching the evaluation of Delta island levee upgrades and repairs.
The Future of the Delta Ecosystem and its Fish
November 12, 2008 08:00 - 26 minutes - 52.7 MB VideoPeter Moyle and William Bennett, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, address four basic questions about fish in their role as major drivers of ecosystem-related policy in the Delta: 1) what species are important for making decisions that affect ecosystem function? 2) what are likely attributes of a future Delta ecosystem? 3) what are likely effects on fish of the four strategic water export alternatives? and 4) what actions could improve the Delta for desirable fish species?
Delta Hydrodynamics and Water Salinity with Future Conditions
November 12, 2008 08:00 - 1 hour - 122 MB VideoWilliam Fleenor, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, presents an initial assessment of the salinity implications of four strategies for managing delta water exports. He also explores the impacts on salinity due to two main changes to the Delta over the past century: One to three feet of sea level rise and increased island flooding.
Expert Survey on the Viability of Delta Fish Populations
November 12, 2008 08:00 - 1 hour - 113 MB VideoThis presentation provides a report on the collective views of 39 experts on Delta fish and ecology regarding the likely responses of key species to different modes of water management in the Delta. The four key species include delta smelt, longfin smelt, young striped bass and juvenile Sacramento River Chinook salmon.