Crane crews from the California Department of Water Resources are removing a temporary rock barrier that kept salt water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, said Capital Press. The barrier was necessary due to drought that reduced water levels in the rivers, an important source of irrigation water. Work must be finished by Nov 15 because of fishery and flooding concerns, a DNR official told Capital Press.
“Hopes for a sudden abundance of water have intensified amid predictions that a strong El Nino would persist through the winter, bringing higher-than-normal precipitation to at least parts of drought-parched California,” said the newspaper. Without the barrier, made of 150,000 tons of rock, growers would have seen saline water. With the arrival of fall, demand for irrigation water is reduced.