Water interests unite in Northern California

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Dennis McCoy | Sacramento Business Journal

Water plays a key role in the Sacramento region, which sports 2 million acres of farmland and most of the state’s rice crop, such as this field in the Yolo Bypass.

Urban, agricultural and environmental interests have banded together to speak with one voice in an effort to protect the region’s water supply from thirsty Southern California and San Joaquin Valley interests.

The Sacramento region sits between what is forecasted to be a declining snowpack in the Sierra — resulting in less surface water — and the Delta, which scientists say needs more fresh-water flow. Seemingly at odds with that reality, south-of-Delta water contractors, facing needs of their own, want even more water.

Many here have been articulating a common message — insisting that any plan for a massive Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water diversion must be fair to north-of-Delta interests. But the message has been somewhat scattered, say members of the newly formed North State Water Alliance, which aims to ensure the region has sufficient high-quality water for future growth.

“We began to realize we need to be unified in our region,” said David Guy, president of one of the alliance’s key members, the Northern California Water Association, which represents more than 60 water suppliers and local governments that provide water for farms, wildlife refuges, rural communities and fisheries in the Sacramento Valley.

Read more in the Sacramento Business Journal.