The state’s water system has edged through multiple extreme droughts over the past decade. But the drinking water for millions of Californians and most of the state’s irrigated farmland can be cut off for years by one earthquake. The economic impact would reach nearly $10 billion—an estimate that has grown 157% above a 2017 projection, according to the Department of Water Resources.
A 4.2-magnitude earthquake struck near Isleton last Wednesday and on Monday a 2.9 tremor hit Twitchell Island. DWR has not reported any damage to water infrastructure, but it warned of a 72% chance that a 6.7-magnitude quake or greater could hit the Bay Area in the next 20 years. More than 1,100 miles of levees along the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta would not hold up to such a shaking. It is a major impetus behind the Newsom administration’s Delta Conveyance Project.
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Meanwhile: DWR is warning Californians to prepare for floods as the potential rises for another wet winter. DWR Director Karla Nemeth on Monday hosted reporters at a levee setback project near Sacramento to showcase plans to divert more stormwater over the seasonal rice fields of Yolo Bypass.
She described how the state is investing in such floodplain restoration projects to combat extreme flooding made worse by climate change.
