Officials: California Water System Repairs Needed Now

By Ed Joyce / Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 11, 2007 at 12:02 PM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

California officials say more money is needed to fix the state's water system. Voters may see a measure on next year's ballot to improve the Sacramento River Delta. The Delta supplies more than half o

California officials say more money is needed to fix the state's water system. Voters may see a measure on next year's ballot to improve the Sacramento River Delta . The Delta supplies more than half of San Diego's drinking water. KPBS Reporter Ed Joyce has more.

State Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow says a $4 billion bond measure could pay for two dams and possibly a canal or other repair for the Delta. The waterway has more than a thousand miles of deteriorating levees. Those levees protect Delta agriculture and the state's water supply by keeping salt water out of freshwater. Ken Weinberg is with the San Diego County Water Authority . He says the need for water, along with the state's population, continues to grow.

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Weinberg: I mean we really are kind of on the verge of a crisis in the Delta as it relates to the smelt. And also our water supply. I mean we really don't have time to waste.

Delta pumps were shut down last month for ten days to protect endangered smelt. The waterway supplies farms and more than 18-million Southern Californians with water. Governor Schwarzenegger created a panel to find ways to improve the waterway. The group's findings are expected in about three months. Ed Joyce, KPBS News.

(Photo: Sacramento Delta, sacdelta.com )

Ed Joyce

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Ed Joyce was the environment reporter and afternoon news anchor for KPBS-FM. Before joining KPBS, he worked as an editor/columnist with Copley News Service in San Diego. Ed has an extensive background in newspaper, radio, web and TV journalism. After graduating with a B.A. in Communications from the University of Washington in Seattle, Ed began a career in broadcast journalism. His work has included stints in public broadcasting, commercial broadcasting and education -- working as an affiliate professor of communication and reporter at the University of Idaho and Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. During the past 20 years he has worked in radio, TV and print as a news reporter, anchor, writer, editor and producer. Along the way he has won numerous awards for general news reporting, newswriting, feature and issue reporting and breaking news reporting from The Associated Press, The Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club and other organizations. During the mid-1990s, while working for Oregon Public Broadcasting, he was a frequent contributor to National Public Radio, including a feature report on the memorial service for 14 U.S. Forest Service "hotshots" who died fighting a wildfire in Colorado (the crew was based in a central Oregon town). He’s also filed reports with Marketplace, KQED’s California Report and Climate Watch and with national and regional networks throughout the United States. At KPBS, Ed continues his contributions to National Public Radio and other national and regional news organizations. He has won awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and San Diego Press Club for his environmental reporting at KPBS-FM-TV and for producing and anchoring radio newscasts. In 2007 he was selected a National Press Foundation fellow for Understanding Violent Weather II program. The seminars were held at the National Weather Center in Norman, Okla. In 2008 he spoke at a UC San Diego conference on U.S. National Security as part of the school’s Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation. Ed led a discussion with the 18 foreign government officials and academics about the political debate over climate change. In 2010, Ed was elected to a three-year term on the board of the San Diego Press Club.

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