From the Department of Water Resources:
Agriculture is vital to California’s economy and intrinsic to our way of life. Beyond the Golden State, we produce 13% of the nation’s total agricultural value, which wouldn’t be possible without reliable water supplies.
The Delta region is an especially important agricultural area, with over 500,000 acres of productive farmland. It also supports local jobs and businesses.
The Delta Conveyance Project, which is designed to improve water supply reliability for the State Water Project (SWP) and the 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland throughout California that depend on it, has been carefully planned to minimize its impact on Delta farmland.
Some agricultural land will be used for the Delta Conveyance Project. However, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority (DCA) are taking significant and genuine steps to limit these impacts, involve local farmers in the planning, and compensate fairly for any losses.
DWR and the DCA are committed to protecting Delta agriculture while moving forward with this important infrastructure modernization project. Agricultural regions across the state, local and statewide economies and continued access to locally sourced food for communities throughout California and beyond are counting on it.
Incidental Take Permit Amendment Application
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) submitted an Incidental Take Permit (ITP) amendment application to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife regarding minor engineering refinements and additional information relating to the project’s ITP. DWR prepared a Second Addendum to the project’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) which found that with these refinements there are no changes to the impact conclusions presented in the EIR. More information here.
