The federal government and some 10 water districts are ponying up $1.1 billion to expand California’s largest reservoir south of the Delta. Their plan is to raise the dam at San Luis Reservoir outside Los Banos by 10 feet – in addition to the 10-foot raise prescribed by the seismic-strengthening project currently underway – and thus increase storage at the existing 2.04 million acre-foot facility by 130,000 acre feet. That’s enough water to supply “more than 2 million people, a million acres of farmland and 135,000 acres of Pacific Flyway Wetlands,” according to a Bureau of Reclamation media release. What’s not being stated publicly (outside a series of negotiation sessions) is these benefits will be felt to a much greater degree in Silicon Valley than the San Joaquin Valley, where San Luis Reservoir is located.
—Written by Marek Warszawski, writes opinion columns on news, politics, sports and quality of life issues for The Fresno Bee