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Delta Island Flooding (With Repairs)

This animation depicts how the Delta may change over time as a result of levee failures from earthquakes and floods. Islands that lie below sea level will flood after levee failures (becoming blue). Islands with sufficiently high land and asset values are repaired each time they are flooded (becoming white again). Other islands remain flooded.

interactive

Delta Island Flooding (No Repairs)

This animation depicts how the Delta may change over time as a result of levee failures from earthquakes and floods. Islands that lie below sea level will flood after levee failures (becoming blue). If islands are not repaired after flooding, the entire area is likely to be flooded by 2055.

Report

Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

By Ellen Hanak, Jay Lund, William Fleenor, Jeffrey Mount ...

For over 50 years, California has been pumping water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for extensive urban and agricultural uses around the state. Today, the Delta is ailing and in urgent need of a new management strategy. This report concludes that building a peripheral canal to carry water around the Delta is the most promising way to balance two critical policy goals: reviving a threatened ecosystem and ensuring a reliable, high-quality water supply for California.
 
More information can be found in the following supporting appendices:

Appendix A. Policy and Regulatory Challenges for the Delta of the Future

Appendix B. Levee Decisions and Sustainability for the Delta

Appendix C. Delta Hydrodynamics and Water Salinity with Future Conditions

Appendix D. The Future of the Delta Ecosystem and Its Fish

Appendix E. Expert Survey on the Viability of Delta Fish Populations

Appendix F. The Economic Costs and Adaptations for Alternative Delta Regulations

Appendix G. Peripheral Canal Design and Implementation Options

Appendix H. Delta Drinking Water Quality and Treatment Costs

Appendix I. The Economic Effects on Agriculture of Water Export Salinity South of the Delta

Appendix J. Decision Analysis of Delta Strategies
 
 
 

blog post

Caring About Delta Levees During a Drought

By Jeffrey Mount

When the sun is shining and our rivers are low, we tend to forget about the levees. This video—a simulation of what would happen if a severe earthquake hit the western Delta—is a reminder.

blog post

Can We Capture More Water in the Delta?

By Sarah Bardeen

A massive amount of water is moving through the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta in the wake of recent storms, and calls have risen from all quarters to capture more of this bounty. We spoke with PPIC Water Policy Center adjunct fellow Greg Gartrell to understand what’s preventing that—and to dispel the myth of “water wasted to the sea.”

blog post

The High Cost of Fixing Levees

By Jeffrey Mount

The state’s levees are in poor shape. Upgrading them to avoid damaging floods will be very costly and will involve difficult trade-offs.

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