The current water problems we are having in California should never have happened and point out one of the major problems with the folks who are in charge. There is precious little long term planning going on in Sacramento. We should have had more reservoirs in the mountains years ago catching all the run off that is currently ending up in the ocean. Now we have an out of control EPA and an attitude among some of our representatives that fish are more important than people’s lives.

We have to have legislators who will get cooperation from the federal government to change environmental regulations so they reflect common sense and reality. We have to be good stewards of the environment but protecting a non-native minnow when people are losing their farms and livelihoods doesn’t make sense. Agriculture is the hub around which the Central Valley and the state revolve. It must be protected and that means adequate water.

Building more dams, increasing the height of those dams where we can and creating more surface storage are a few of the fixes we can work on now. Those fixes will require some environmental sacrifices but will also yield more recreational areas, hydroelectric power and give the state more flexibility to prevent flooding and be prepared for those years when there isn’t enough rain. I think this plan is a better option than digging a canal around the delta.

Additionally, we need to have the southern part of the state develop more desalination capacity. The knowledge is out there and the technology is getting better all the time. Conservation measures should also become more permanent ways of life where water is scarcer rather than depending on increasing transfers from more water abundant areas.