Over the past 130 years, the largest inland estuary of America's west coast, the San Francisco Bay and Delta,1 has been altered greatly by land and water development. To the detriment of estuarine processes and indicator species, upstream impoundments, diversions and pumped exports from the Delta have reduced river flows by 50 percent or more. Long-term effects of the upstream impoundments and removals are just beginning to be understood. Additional storage and diversion units are planned. The responsibility for repelling salinity intrusion from the Bay to the Delta's waters is not clearly defined. Additionally, drainage projects are underway to transport land-derived salts from inland irrigated areas for discharge into the Bay's headwaters. Also, the threat of levee collapse in the Delta from erosion and subsidence advances yearly. Navigation, agriculture, recreation and fish/wildlife needs further complicate land and water management challenges in the Delta. This paper appraises the present realities produced by past projects and policies.
1Delta is used throughout as a California place name that applies to the combined areas of the Sacramento and San Joaquin River deltas (Fig. 2). The Bay begins at Chipps Island, just below the confluence of the two rivers, and extends to Golden Gate on the west and San Jose on the south (Fig. 1).
Let There Be a Firmament in the Midst of the Waters