The Sacramento Delta provides a substantial amount of water for California from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. If the California drought continues, the Delta is in danger of salt water intrusion from San Francisco Bay. This cannot be allowed to happen. The Department of Water Resources is making contingency plans to install barriers to prevent such as catastrophe (and it would be a catastrophe.)
The emergency drought barriers would limit saltwater intrusion, minimizing the amount of water that must be released from upstream reservoirs to repel the salt. Too much saltwater too deep in the Delta can contaminate water supplies for Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara county residents, Delta residents and the 25 million Californians who rely on the Delta-based federal and state water projects.