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A Framework for Action <br />Statewide Water Management Systems <br />f <br />1 <br />a- :, a A 1 <br />Sustain the Sacramento - <br />San Joaquin Delta <br />The Sacramento -San Joaquin <br />Delta is the hub of California water <br />management and a vital aquatic <br />ecosystem. Public and private enti- <br />ties carry out myriad activities to <br />maintain the benefits that California <br />derives from this great estuary: <br />the State Water Resources Control <br />Board sets water quality standards; <br />the State Water Project and Cen- <br />tral Valley Project operate to meet <br />these standards; federal, state, and <br />private entities preserve land as <br />habitat; farmers till 500,000 pro- <br />ductive acres. <br />The common denominator among <br />all these pursuits is the Delta levee <br />system. These levees protect water <br />supplies needed for the environment, <br />agriculture, and urban uses. Delta <br />levees also F <br />towns, agric <br />as terrestrial <br />The CALFED <br />is intended t <br />catastrophic <br />levees to Ian <br />economic ac <br />infrastructur <br />Despite their importance, there are <br />many factors that make it quite <br />challenging to sustain the Delta <br />levees and the benefits they protect <br />• Subsidence of Delta islands <br />continues to occur where peat <br />soils oxidize, increasing the <br />pressure on levees that protect <br />the islands. <br />A catastrophic earthquake in or <br />near the Delta might cause mul- <br />tiple levee failures that would <br />draw seawater into the Delta, ren- <br />dering the water unfit for irriga- <br />tion or human consumption until <br />levees were repaired and seawa- <br />ter was flushed from the Delta. <br />Climate change is causing sea <br />levels to rise and may also <br />increase the magnitude of <br />flood flows. <br />Maintenance and improvement <br />of Delta levees is costly, and <br />available funds have not kept <br />pace with needs. <br />Levee failures are extremely <br />costly to repair, further burdening <br />the ability to fund adequate <br />maintenance and rehabilitation. <br />The Sacramento -San Joaquin Delta, <br />like the Central Valley flood control <br />system, needs an approach that will <br />achieve both short -term and long- <br />term solutions. This approach should <br />maintain the services and values we <br />get from the Delta and should be <br />sustainable over the long term. DWR <br />has initiated a multi -year study to <br />assess ongoing and future risks to the <br />Delta, identify consequences of levee <br />failures, evaluate alternative risk <br />reduction strategies, and develop a <br />comprehensive, long -term vision and <br />