The Sacramento Delta: A Gordian Knot - The Ripple Effect: The Fate of Freshwater in the Twenty-First Century - page 213

ated. By the early 1950s, river diversions were so great that in some places the San Joa-
quin ran completely dry. The chinook were wiped out.
In September 2006, after an eighteen-year legal campaign led by the Natural Re-
sources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental advocacy group, a historic agree-
ment was announced to restore San Joaquin River flows to a sixty-mile stretch of river.
Under the agreement, river diversions will be reduced by fifteen percent during the
spring, chinook (now listed as a federal endangered species) will be reintroduced to the
river, fish ladders and screens will be built, and levees will be repaired. NRDC attorney
Hal Candee hailed the restoration as “unprecedented in the American West.” The pro-
ject is estimated to cost $250-$800 million (to be shared by the federal government, the
state, and the agricultural industry) and is slated to be completed by 2014.
The agreement attempts to protect farmers, as well. It allows irrigators to buy dis-
counted water in wet years, and to buy water from other irrigation districts. But those
not covered by the settlement worry that they will be forced to sacrifice more water and
incur costly upgrades, and will have less hydroelectric production. The Modesto and
Merced irrigation districts have taken their concerns to Congress, decrying the project
as “a potential disaster.”
A crosswind blew over Friant Dam, ruffling Gleick's beard as we stared at the placid
reservoir. In a normal year, this basin can store up to 520,500 acre-feet of water, though
on the day of our visit it looked at least a quarter empty; by October, the lake would hold
about 40 percent of its capacity, which was lower than average. Even so, it was a serene
and beautiful scene, and the dam and its canals were remarkable pieces of engineering.
“It's hard not to be impressed,” I ventured.
“True,” Gleick replied. “I've always said that these dams brought enormous benefits.”
He paused a beat, then added, “But that doesn't mean we need to build any more of
them!”
If the Temperance Flat Dam is built in a gorge just north of Millerton Lake, it will
dwarf Friant and create a vast new reservoir holding 1.26 million acre-feet of water,
which is close to three times the size of Millerton. Standing on Friant, it was difficult to
imagine the size and scope of the proposed structure. Dam proponents said water from
Temperance Flats would cost $300 to $400 an acre-foot. But as they hadn't decided on a
site or design, or how the dam will be operated, those numbers were merely guesstim-
ates.
“I'm in favor of designingdams—that's cheap,” said Gleick. “Basic dam design hasn't
changed much over the years, although today you have to integrate climate change into
your design. But buildingdams is horribly expensive. It always costs more than they say
it will. Who is going to pay for Temperance Flat? The people who really use this water,