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One earthquake could leave two-thirds of Californians without drinking water
On November 1, 2005 California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) issued a report stating that a simple 6.5-magnitude earthquake in Northern California’s Delta region could produce more than 30 levee breaches on 16 Delta islands. This would flood tens of thousands of homes and a massive area of productive farmland, causing around $30 billion in damages. However, the most alarming news, by far, was the realization that such an event could render unusable the drinking water supply of two-thirds of all Californians.
The United States Geological Service estimates that there is a 62 percent probability that an earthquake of at least magnitude 6.7 or greater will strike the San Francisco Bay region before 2032. According to the DWR report, this would liquefy several portions of the levee system, causing a massive release of fresh water. Salt water from the San Francisco Bay would then be sucked into the Delta to replace the fresh water in a phenomena described as “the big gulp,” shutting down the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. These two water projects together serve 25 million Californians. Major power and gas transmission lines would also be damaged, impacting energy delivery throughout the state.
The report also predicted essential highways would be inundated, creating lengthy detours and jamming other roadways with panic-stricken residents in search of fresh water and higher ground. Needless to say, the environmental damage to the fragile Delta ecosystem would be devastating and irreversible for decades.
DWR Director Lester Snow estimated that it would take at least 15 months and $30-40 billion to restore basic infrastructure in the region. The only way to avoid such an impending catastrophe is through a huge investment in levee maintenance and improvement, greater flood risk education for local agencies and a program to ensure upgraded flood management systems for the mass of new housing developments in the flood plain.
The California Delta
The waters of the Pacific Ocean fill the San Francisco Bay and flow eastward into the Central Valley—the third largest agriculture producing region in the world—where they connect with fresh water flowing from the Sierra Nevada in the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. The Delta is a vascular network of waterways that branch off from these rivers—the state’s two largest—and encircle about 57 levee-protected “islands.” The islands are generally used for farming because of their rich, silt-laden soil.
California’s Central Valley is essentially a vast floodplain. Nearly the entire western portion is at or below sea level and depends on the protection of 1,600 miles of levees erected along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers over 100 years ago, principally by Chinese laborers. The levee system was built to protect crops, not cities, or drinking water. Without this mass of dams and earthen walls, the area would flood every spring just as Egypt’s Nile Valley once did.
Like the levee system that failed to hold back Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, the delta levee system is in desperate need of repairs and reinforcement. Maintenance of the levee system has become increasingly difficult, with estimated costs continually on the rise. The DWR last estimated that Central Valley levees require nearly $5 billion in repairs. Despite the gravity of the problem, there is no funding for the work. In a January 2005 report, the department referred to the levee system as a “ticking time bomb.”
Read More
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/nov2005/cali-n30.shtml
The report also predicted essential highways would be inundated, creating lengthy detours and jamming other roadways with panic-stricken residents in search of fresh water and higher ground. Needless to say, the environmental damage to the fragile Delta ecosystem would be devastating and irreversible for decades.
DWR Director Lester Snow estimated that it would take at least 15 months and $30-40 billion to restore basic infrastructure in the region. The only way to avoid such an impending catastrophe is through a huge investment in levee maintenance and improvement, greater flood risk education for local agencies and a program to ensure upgraded flood management systems for the mass of new housing developments in the flood plain.
The California Delta
The waters of the Pacific Ocean fill the San Francisco Bay and flow eastward into the Central Valley—the third largest agriculture producing region in the world—where they connect with fresh water flowing from the Sierra Nevada in the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers. The Delta is a vascular network of waterways that branch off from these rivers—the state’s two largest—and encircle about 57 levee-protected “islands.” The islands are generally used for farming because of their rich, silt-laden soil.
California’s Central Valley is essentially a vast floodplain. Nearly the entire western portion is at or below sea level and depends on the protection of 1,600 miles of levees erected along the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers over 100 years ago, principally by Chinese laborers. The levee system was built to protect crops, not cities, or drinking water. Without this mass of dams and earthen walls, the area would flood every spring just as Egypt’s Nile Valley once did.
Like the levee system that failed to hold back Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans, the delta levee system is in desperate need of repairs and reinforcement. Maintenance of the levee system has become increasingly difficult, with estimated costs continually on the rise. The DWR last estimated that Central Valley levees require nearly $5 billion in repairs. Despite the gravity of the problem, there is no funding for the work. In a January 2005 report, the department referred to the levee system as a “ticking time bomb.”
Read More
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/nov2005/cali-n30.shtml
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