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The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem was once a very different place. Before levees and dams, the rivers and streams that flowed through the Central Valley into the San Francisco Bay swelled and shrank with the seasons. Huge, shallow floodplains warmed by the sun mingled with icy mountain snowmelt to create a habitat rich with microscopic plankton, the base of the aquatic food chain. Now, nearly all the waterways that feed the Delta are channelized for shipping, farming and flood control, none more so than the Sacramento River.

 

Offering a ray of hope in the struggle to save a tiny fish enmeshed in California’s water disputes, state officials say they have found a way to move around river water to produce more food for hungry or starving Delta smelt. The endangered fish, at record low numbers, has been hurt by a long-term decline in tiny water plants and creatures at the base of the food chain in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a source of water for 25 million Californians.

With the drought easing in parts of California, this year’s almond harvest is shaping up to be a record haul for the state that could help its growers crack the nut on more sales. The harvest underway in California’s San Joaquin Valley is expected to result in an estimated 2.05 billion pounds of almonds this season, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s up about 8 percent from last year and would shatter 2011’s record crop, which weighed in at 2.03 billion pounds.

Farm revenue in California dropped by more than $9 billion last year as the drought forced farmers to scramble for water and crucial commodities declined in price, according to data released by the state and federal governments Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s economic research service said farm income totaled $47.07 billion last year in California. That compared with a record $56.61 billion in 2014. All through the drought, which has cut off deliveries of surface water supplies to large swaths of the Central Valley, farmers have been able to increase revenue by pumping more groundwater and switching to high-dollar crops such as almonds.

The Delta region is home to Congressman John Garamendi, D-Solano, and that’s why he is willing to stand firmly against California Governor Jerry Brown on his continuing dream of creating Twin Tunnels. Garamendi, a native of Walnut Grove, and the long-time owner of a pear orchard knows what a healthy Delta means to the community, the farmers in the region, the fisheries and to the community at large. Building a tunnel system to export 15,000 cubic feet per second of water southward could effectively drain the Delta six months out of the year and cause irreparable harm, Garamendi said.