The Trump administration is trying a bold new tactic to bring more water to Central Valley farmers a one that could come at the expense of millions of urban Southern Californians.
In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation served notice to California officials Aug. 17, stating it wants to renegotiate a landmark 1986 agreement governing the big federal and state water projects and how they pump water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to their member agencies in southern half of the state.
Reclamationa s efforts could significantly alter the balance of power between the state and federal governments as they share control of the water that flows through the Delta. The estuary is the hub of Californiaa s complex north-to-south water delivery system.
The complicated 1986 deal requires both sides to surrender water at times from their reservoirs, to serve environmental needsA and other purposes. Now the feds want to keep more of their water on hand, for delivery to Valley farm-irrigation districts and other customers of the federal governmenta s Central Valley Project, leaving less for the State Water Project. Experts say hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water could be at stake.
