Spreck Rosekrans is an Economic Analyst at EDF.

As we hear cries of water wasting to the sea from the Bay-Delta, it is perhaps appropriate to remember that the Bay-Delta is a living estuary that needs water. Along these lines, we just received a blast from the past (courtesy of Jonas Minton) in the form of a 1980 letter (pdf) to then Governor Jerry Brown from Ph. D.’s lrwin Haydock (Marine Ecology) and Michael Rozengurt (Oceanography, Hydrology) that asserts it is an “inescapable conclusion that no more than 25-30 % of the natural flow can be diverted without disastrous consequences”.

Diversions have risen well beyond Haydock and Rozengurt’s threshold, to an average of 48% to date in the 21st century. It is important to remember Read more »