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A half century after building the largest water-delivery system in America, California officials say they now realize they put their giant straws to capture Sacramento River water in the wrong place.

Last week, state and federal water project operators opened the case to win permission for a fix — construction of three diversion points near Sacramento tied to twin underground tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to shunt water to 25 million people throughout the state.

State and federal reservoir levels have been dropping at dramatically different rates for the last couple of months, for reasons that figure into last week’s discussions about the twin tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Lake Oroville has released more than 968,000 acre-feet of water into the Feather River since June 1, while just over 616,000 acre-feet have flowed from Shasta Lake into the Sacramento River. Oroville has gone from 83 percent full to 66 percent full in that time, while Shasta dipped from 86 percent full to 78 percent full. Oroville’s water level has dropped 62 feet, Shasta, just 15 feet.

As state-mandated water restrictions were projected to be lifted on Aug. 1, local water districts have begun to take steps establishing new, self-certified conservation marks, but the state has yet to confirm the districts’ goals.

Cal Water Marysville, which previously had a 24 percent reduction mandated by the state, set its new water conservation target at 10 percent. “It’s a target that is meant to reinforce conservation,” said Lee Seidel, district manager for Cal Water Marysville.

The deadly wildfire raging north of Big Sur continued to grow in size on Sunday and has now burned 40,000 acres and destroyed nearly 70 structures.

About 5,300 firefighters are battling the Soberanes fire, which is now just 18% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Since it began July 22, the fire has also claimed the life of a bulldozer operator. Pushed by strong southerly winds, the blaze has shifted away from coastal homes and is moving southeast into the heart of the Los Padres National Forest, said Maria Lara, spokeswoman for Cal Fire.