Delta canal fears raised

Though old enemies may be looking afresh at a peripheral canal to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a panel of scientists warned Wednesday that no one knows how such a canal will affect the sensitive estuary.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger has mounted a campaign to build the canal. Rejected by state voters in 1982, the project is getting renewed focus as a fix for the Delta, where water quality is suffering and fish are in decline as the estuary strains to provide water to two out of three Californians.

The original proposal called for a 43-mile canal to divert Sacramento River water near the town of Hood, and carry it around the Delta directly to state and federal export pumps near Tracy. It was thought this would isolate exports from Delta water quality problems, while preventing fish from being killed in export pumps.

Critics opposed the original project because they feared it was a tool for Southern California to grab more north state water.

Now, a generation later, the Delta is widely considered to be in crisis, partly because water exports near Tracy continue to kill fish, including Delta smelt, green sturgeon, striped bass and chinook salmon.

Also, new research warns that an earthquake could devastate Delta levees, causing a statewide water and economic disaster.

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