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The report’s findings were unequivocal: Given the current pace of water diversions, the San Francisco Bay and the Delta network of rivers and marshes are ecological goners, with many of its native fish species now experiencing a “sixth extinction,” environmental science’s most-dire definition of ecosystem collapse. Once a vast, soaked marsh and channel fed by the gushing Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, the Delta has diminished dramatically over the previous century as those rivers and their mountain tributaries have been diverted to irrigate Central Valley farms and Bay Area urbanity.

The California water bill now ready for the president’s signature dramatically shifts 25 years of federal policy and culminates a long and fractious campaign born in the drought-stricken San Joaquin Valley. A rough five years in the making, the $558 million bill approved by the Senate early Saturday morning steers more water to farmers, eases dam construction, and funds desalination and recycling projects. Its rocky road to the White House also proved a costly master class in political persistence and adroit maneuvering.

 

California’s drought — now in its sixth year — and climate change that promises to reduce water supplies in years to come have transformed the state’s water woes from an occasional crisis to an emergency. In response, as detailed in this week’s Insight, the state is stepping up efforts to replumb the state’s water system to balance what supply there is among cities, farms and the environment.

A federal vote this week could lead to more water stored in California reservoirs south of the delta, as well as a future Sites Reservoir. The plan would be to allow more water to flow into storage after big storms in the winter. The U.S. House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 612 on Thursday, with a vote of 360-61. Both Congressmen John Garamendi (D-Walnut Grove) and Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) were in favor. A vote in the Senate could come as soon as Friday, unless there is a procedural delay.

The House by a lopsided margin passed a massive water resources development bill Thursday that includes newly added provisions for California water storage projects and permits additional water to be sent south of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to Central Valley farmland. The 360-61 vote moved the measure to the Senate, where Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., has vowed to derail it on Friday, what may be the last day Congress is in session. Reps. Julia Brownley, D-Westlake Village and Steve Knight, R-Lancaster, voted for it. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, voted against it.