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resources of the Delta are not sustain- able for the next 100 years, and that a more comprehensive view of the region is a prerequisite for any large - scale blueprint and long -term invest- ment of public funds. "The fact is we now have a current pattern of use in the Delta — including land use — that I don't see how somebody with a straight face could argue is sustainable," said Tim Quinn, vice president for State Water Project (SWP) operations at the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California. The litany of concerns facing the Delta and the needed response by state and federal officials was outlined late last year in a report prepared by the Little Hoover Commission, a legisla- tive oversight team that was given the task of analyzing the CALFED Bay - Delta Program. In its November 2005 report, "Still Imperiled, Still Impor- tant — A Review of the CALFED Bay - Delta Program," the commission found a program in disarray but not without hope of making progress in the quest to restore the Delta while assuring security to reliable water delivery. "The current troubles in the Delta — including fish declines and levee concerns — make it essential that today's leaders confront the remaining conflicts and fully resolve them," the report says. The commis- sion made a number of recommenda- tions, such as replacing the California Bay -Delta Authority (CBDA) with "a leadership structure that has the authority to accomplish CALFED's mission." Besides land use planning, a proposed "Delta Vision Process" aims to tackle all other pertinent matters, including the future of Delta agricul- ture, recreation, ecosystem restoration, energy, rail and transportation infra- structure. Inherent is the acknowledgement that a wide variety of interests have a stake in the Delta and that their participation is vital in shaping a future for the region. "When you stop to ask what's best for the state as a whole, it goes beyond resource issues," Coglianese said. "We have to figure a way that sustains this beyond a single administration. We don't have a coherent state policy about where we are going." After a levee broke in June 2004, water rushed under the railroad trestle from Upper Jones Tract to Lower Jones Tract. .r This issue of Western Water examines the Delta as it stands today and the efforts by government agen- cies, policy experts, elected officials and the public at large to craft a vision for a sustainable future. Some of the information and quotes in this article are derived from the Foundation's Executive Briefing, held March 23 -24 in Sacramento. The Delta in Crisis CALFED and the Delta have been battered by a series of problems and setbacks that have struck with inten- sity not unlike the New Year's Eve 2006 storm that lashed the Delta levees. Most, if not all, the issues reflect the conflict and turmoil that stakeholders have tried to address through forums such as the CBDA. Water supply and reliability, the health of fish species, the threat of catastrophic flooding and the ad- equacy of governing structures, among other things, have been featured in press accounts that paint a dire portrait of the region's struggles. "The Delta is in crisis," Wolk said. "There isn't a piece of it that's working." A common cog in the works is the Delta levees, the fragility of which has been highly publicized in the wake of the New Orleans flooding and revela- tions by scientific experts that the levees are extremely vulnerable and not sustainable in the long -term. In its portrayal of how a Delta earthquake could devastate the California economy, DWR paints a grim scenario should an earthquake measuring 6.5 on the Richter scale strike the western Delta. Thirty levee breaches could flood 16 islands, with another 200 miles of levees weakened to the point of potential failure. Billions of gallons of salt water could flow into the Delta in the quake's aftermath, causing the immediate cessation of water diversions for Contra Costa and the state and federal projects with no resumption in the near future. Besides the disruption in water supply, the disaster would cripple WESTERN WATER