California state water officials want to get public input on an ambitious proposal to save threatened fish in the Delta. They're holding public meetings this week on a plan to install gates to help control the flow of water. Steve Milne explains.
The gates would help state water officials control the movement of smelt - those tiny fish that were getting killed in the pumps used to move Delta water to Southern California. Victor Pacheco is with the Department of Water Resources. He says the gates would be built under water in an area near Rio Vista known as Franks Tract.
And the way that they would be operated, there's several options that are being discussed in terms of using for example inflatable barriers that would be filled with water or air that would lift the gates up and block the channel. Another one would be to have a hydraulic arm another one would be to use a hoist system of cables.
Pacheco says the gates would also help the Delta's fragile ecosystem by limiting the flow of sea water from the San Francisco Bay. Public meetings will be held this week in Sacramento, Rio Vista, Antioch and Stockton.
In Sacramento, I'm Steve Milne.
