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As part of the latest push to restore the ailing Delta, a 646-acre wheat and corn farm here is expected one day to metamorphose into a recreational and habitat oasis complete with kayak launches, hiking trails and a home for endangered species.

The area, off the Byron Highway between Oakley and Brentwood, will provide a launch spot to explore the Delta, as well as trails for hikers. The East Bay Regional Park District paid $6.1 million in late January to buy the land for the project, which is likely to cost millions more to carry out over many years.

What gets measured gets managed, ” management guru Peter Drucker once said.  In the fourth year of a historic drought, Drucker’s statement is especially relevant.

Simply put, in spite of numerous databases containing information on hydrology, biology, water quality, water use and other technical information, there is no single entity responsible for collecting and reporting all the data necessary for regulatory and water supply managers to make informed and science-based decisions to manage our precious water resources.

The year’s first congressional hearing on California’s water crisis incited stern voices and familiar feuds Wednesday, but showed no sign of legislative progress.

Instead, for two hours, lawmakers largely remained in trenches dug over many years as they lobbed shells at one another and, at times, the assembled witnesses.

Two members of Congress that represent the Galt area and the Delta support federal legislation that would provide $1.3 billion for short- and long-term solutions to California’s historic drought.

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein earlier this month introduced the California Long-Term Provisions for Water Supply and Short-Term Provisions for Emergency Drought Relief Act.

Despite wetter-than-average weather in California, some farmers are looking at another year of a zero federal water allocation even as the billions of gallons of water continue to be dumped into the ocean in order to save a three-inch fish.

The worst part for many lawmakers at Wednesday’s House subcommittee hearing is that the Delta smelt remains as vulnerable as ever after the loss of 1.4 trillion gallons of water since 2008 under the federal Endangered Species Act.